BJP to benefit from battle for T -If T Is Formed,Electoral Benefit Of Such A Creation May Not Go To Cong

Earlier this week,BJP president Nitin Gadkari came down to Adilabad,the northernmost district of Telangana and barely 250 km from his hometown of Nagpur,to address a rally in support of Telangana. Gadkari said that his partys commitment to Telangana was unequivocal and that BJP would paralyse the budget session of Parliament if a Bill for creation of a separate state was not introduced. With the Sri krishna report not really gung-ho about creation of Telangana andTRS having rejectedrecommendations of the committee,the scene is set for a protracted battle.The sentiments for a separate state runs very deep in Telangana region.The people will favour any party that supports their aspirations. People will give their thumbs up to BJP because it supports Telangana, says Satyanarayana,a lecturer in a college in Nizamabad. Analysts point out that the TRS by itself cannot create Telangana.It requires the support of a large national party.With the Congress unable to figure out its stand,whether to back Telangana or not,the TRS will itself have no option but to cohort with BJP.This will help the national party.

K Chandrasekhar Rao has said that he would wash the feet of Sonia Gandhi if she creates Telangana. What he has not said is that he will jump into the arms of the BJP if his demands are not met,said an analyst who has closely watched the TRS chief. The BJP,which was known as a party with its strong holds in the north and west,became prominent in Karnataka about five years ago.But thats where it has got stuck. With an opportunity arising in Telangana,the party would hardly run away from the field.For the BJP which has just two MLAs out of a total 294 MLAs in the AP assembly what ever it does will lead to an addition to its numbers.There is nothing that the party stands to lose here,the analyst pointed out. Interestingly the T-movement and the TRS is a result of the moves of the NDA government when it was in power.K Chandrasekhar Rao walked out of the TDP and spawned TRS after the Vajpayee government carved out Uttaranchal,Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh in 2000.

The NDA Govt mulled Telangana but held back because of strident opposition from Chandrababu Naidus TDP. If its an opportunity for the BJP,for the ruling Congress party it is the reverse.If it creates Telangana,then party loses its equity in the rest of Andhra Pradesh where there is strong opposition to the breaking of the unified state. But the problem is that the party cannot be very optimistic about its prospects in Andhra and Rayalaseema even if it does not form Telangana.This is because Jagans juggernaut is rolling slowly but surely in this region.Ground level reports suggest that a part of the Reddy base of the Congress stands to be lost to the scion of YSR. At the same time the party will be wiped off in Telangana area.If Telangana is created after ground level agitations by the TRS and parliamentary lobbying initiated by the BJP and even if it is done by the UPA government,the electoral benefit of such a creation may not go to Congress.The people will see that state becoming a reality in spite of Congress opposition,the analyst pointed out.
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Cong draws flak from both sides of T divide


Congress came under fire from both sides of Telangana divide. On Thursday, with opponents of bifur-cation of Andhra Pradesh blaming its statement on December 9,2009, promising Telangana for the crisis. The attack from the anti-Telangana camp,represented by UPA ally MIM at the all-party meeting and by TDP outside,was surprising as the Srikrishna report and general mood in the ruling party tallied with their stance against statehood. The fear of not winning the anti-T camp despite a decision of their liking is a possibility which is compounded by the prospect of Congress taking a pounding at the hands of TRS eager to tap the resentment against the status quo.

There was little respite from within too.Uttam Reddy,who represented T region at the meet,departed from the neutral stance of study and get back to say that statehood was the best option despite being rejected by Srikrishna panel.He spoke his mind despite Kavuri Sambasiva Rao,who represented the anti-T camp of Congress,kept quiet. For the cornered Centre,there were discomforting moments when CPI,which backs APs division unlike ally CPM,asked the home minister to spell out the Centres stand.
The cleft of Telangana has Congressmen worried that the party can at best think of minimising losses in future.The compulsions of Telangana debate have jolted Congress to the long-term impact of the acrimonious debate,with even continued status quo not promising returns in anti-T regions owing to Jaganmohan Reddys challenge.

The option of united AP with regional council for T failed to see any immediate softening in Congress. Though Congress MPs rededication to the T-cause on Thursday may be mere posturing,they can still not relent on it for fear of backlash. The MPs told the party brass on Wednesday night that they will not be able to enter their constituencies if the state was not given. Such compulsion to match the local sentiments was lamented by moderates who said the statutory safeguards for Telangana were a good solution in the given circumstances.
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(source-toi)