Andhra camps step up pressure, call on Sonia

The government continued to grapple with the Andhra imbroglio on Tuesday as pro and anti-Telangana lobbies stepped up pressure on the Centre and the Congress High Command.

The government continued to grapple with the Andhra imbroglio on Tuesday as pro and anti-Telangana lobbies stepped up pressure on the Centre and the Congress High Command. The pro-group even warned of “disastrous consequences” if the decision on a separate state is diluted.

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In a day marked by hectic parleys, growing uncertainty and rising passions, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Law Minister Veerappa Moily met, reportedly to thrash out a draft statement that is expected to cater to the sentiments of the warring camps.

Accosted by mediapersons in Parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh remained non-committal about the statement, saying, “right now nothing can be said”.

The government’s main effort would be to dispel the impression that the initiative for creating a state lay with the Centre though the move has to be made by the assembly.

But in anticipation of a statement, the two camps intensified their pressure, and called on Mukherjee, Moily and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel.

On Tuesday, 11 pro-MPs, in strongly-worded but identical letters to Singh and Gandhi, alleged that the Andhra agitation is “sponsored”. They cautioned against “obnoxious attempts by Andhra friends to dilute the historical decision” on creating Telangana.

“Needless to say, any going back on the matter will be disastrous,” said G. Vivekanand and four other MPs. “We cannot but stand by the sentiments of Telangana…. It will be people vs people, which needs to be avoided.”

The letters came a day after the anti-Telangana Congress MPs urged the PM for an amicable and early resolution. Singh, they claimed, assured of a decision in a “day or two”.

The pro-Telangana MPs demanded equal representation in any discussion on the issue. “There is a hurt in Telangana that only Andhra counterparts are getting your ear. The impression must go,” they told Singh and Gandhi.

“We need to buy peace and not fall prey to the canny designs and scary stories of few MPs. Their vested interests are not hidden. (All contractors, bankers, real estate builders),” they charged.

More specifically, they alleged: “The stir is mostly focused in Anantapur, thanks to Galli Janardhan Reddy (BJP) of Oblapuram and his mentor and colleagues in Andhra Pradesh.”

Janardhan and his brothers, with a stake in mining in the region, had virtually brought the BJP’s government in Karnataka to the brink.

The letter writers also alleged that the people of Telangana felt that they were being “ruled and exploited” for more than 40 years.