Former Congress MPs Express Shock and Regret Over Andhra Pradesh's Bifurcation

Vijayawada: Though leaders from Seemandhra were confident that there was no chance of the state’s bifurcation, they lacked substance in their arguments in contrast to the Telangana protagonists, who justified their claim for a separate Telangana state. Eventually, they succeeded in accomplishing their aspirations.

Shocked at the bolt from the blue, former Congress MPs alleged that they were misled by the party’s central leadership that it was not going to allow division of Andhra Pradesh. They said that they realised that they were being misguided only when the then Union home minister P. Chidambaram announced that the process of forming Telangana would be initiated and an appropriation resolution would be moved in the legislative Assembly on December 9, 2013 kicking up a stir in Andhra Pradesh.

However, Chidambaram’s second announcement that there was a need to hold wide-ranging consultations before going ahead with the decision stirred up emotions among people in Telangana.

Telugu Desam chief N. Chandrababu Naidu propounded the two eyes theory saying that the two regions were like two eyes for him. Extending support for Telangana while in Hyderabad and championing the cause of Andhrites while in AP weakened the movement for Samaikyandhra, opine many.

Several parts in AP witnessed agitations with protestors detaining trains and resorting to road blockades. Students, professionals, employees and NGOs formed joint action committees to stage protests and burnt effigies of the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi to express their ire. While normal life came to a grinding halt, functioning of government and private establishments were badly impacted.

Former MP Vundavalli Aruna Kumar said that they were misled by the then President Pranab Mukherjee as he had been maintaining that he would insist on getting a resolution passed by the AP Assembly giving its acceptance for bifurcation of AP so that the Parliament based on AP Assembly’s resolution could pass the bill to divide the erstwhile AP.

He recalled how the Parliament passed the AP bifurcation bill throwing all norms to winds leave alone taking into consideration the AP Assembly’s resolution rejecting any move to split the state. He said that though all MPs from AP had outright rejected bifurcation moves, a few of them, including himself, demanded the then Congress government to make Hyderabad as a Union Territory so that both states could have stakes on it for 10 years or so.

Former Union minister M.M. Pallam Raju said that Indira Gandhi had summarily rejected the call for division when the 1969 Telangana movement was at its peak while contending that this would set a bad precedent. He said that all MPs from AP informed Sonia Gandhi that as the state was next to UP in terms of its political strength in the Parliament, any move to divide it would make it insignificant politically. He said that some top Congress leaders like Digvijay Singh were to be blamed as they used to reassure that there would be no bifurcation, while on the other hand, encouraging MPs from Telangana region to intensify their stir. Subsequently, they were informed that Sonia Gandhi had given a commitment to MPs from Telangana to grant a separate state and expressed their inability to stall it.

However, they were given an assurance to compensate for the loss, he said and added that even the then Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh told him that as the Congress Working Committee had taken a decision to divide and the Union cabinet had given its approval, they had to go by it. He said that as both the Congress and the BJP colluded on the issue for their political gain, the bifurcation of AP was allowed and added that when all the MPs from AP were crestfallen, Rahul Gandhi called for a meeting of all MPs from AP and assured to do justice to all three regions of AP after its bifurcation.

Palla Raju said, “If Congress is elected to power at the Centre it will help resolve all issues pertaining to the residuary AP and help it overcome issues. In the AICC meeting held at Raipur, the party resolved to give special category status to AP and it is a welcome step for AP to overcome its problems.”

Former MP G.V. Harsha Kumar recalled how the Andhra MPs were misled by Ghulam Nabi Azad, who assured MPs from AP that there would be no bifurcation while also assuring MPs from Telangana region that they would get what they wanted. He said that though they were against the bifurcation, they wanted Hyderabad to be declared as a UT in case division was inevitable.

He said, “The bifurcation was done in a minute in the Lok Sabha. K. Rosaiah was replaced as the chief minister by N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, who remained steadfast in his opposition to bifurcation. MPs from both Congress and BJP joined together while depriving us of our bargaining capacity regarding Hyderabad as a UT.”

Former MP T.G. Venkatesh said that he had pioneered the Samaikyandhra movement and Rayalaseema Hakkula Ikhya Vedika. He sought the support of Lagadapati Rajagopal and AP Intellectuals Forum president Chalasani Srinivas to start and consolidate the movement in their respective areas. He recalled that when they held a meeting to mobilise support for a united AP in Hyderabad, they were attacked by proponents of a separate Telangana state.

He said, “When K. Chandrashekar Rao was seeking a separate Telangana claiming that their people were poor and the region undeveloped, I had countered it while stating that people in Rayalaseema districts were even more poor. Telangana has taken away the cream of development by getting Hyderabad.”

The former Congress MPs said that if they were aware that the erstwhile AP’s division was inevitable, they should have focused more on what benefits to get for the residuary state to overcome the loss.