With Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde promising to stick to his deadline,the countdown has begun for the Central Govts announcement on the please-all solution to the protracted T statehood issue. It will be imprudent to make any guesses on what the decision can be,in the backdrop of earlier flip-flop announcements made on 9th and 23rd December 2009 by the then Union home minister P Chidambaram. But this time,one can expect that the awaited decision would take into consideration all the pros and cons of the alternatives available to the Centre on the rival demands for continuance of Andhra Pradesh versus creation of Telangana state.
One thing is apparent.Whatever be the decision,the Centre is already working on contingency plans to deal with the fall-out of its decision to be pronounced on January 28.If you look at the emerging scenario,the state government has begun preparations in anticipation of the D-Day announcement. Quietly, the Congress regime in the state is following the instructions of the party high command. After the AP Congress Committees brain-storming convention held on December 16,2012,the party high command has asked the state Congress leadership to put the partys regional and sub-regional conventions on hold.
Despite CM Kiran Kumar Reddys promise to fill up non-official posts,such as chairperson and members/ directors posts in various government-run corporations,committees and boards,before the Sankranti festival,nothing seems to be happening,with the Congress high command withholding the nod once again.To top it all,the state legislatures budget session has been rescheduled to commence on March 11,though in the past,the budget session usually began in the second or third week of February.Finance minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy has also announced that the government would go initially for a vote-on-account budget and after the budgetary demands are vetted by the standing committees,the final budget would be passed before May 15.
Apparently,the state government is bracing up for a clear 40-day cooling period between the expected announcement on January 28 and the commencement of budget session of the Assembly.Both the central and the state government would like to tackle the fall-out of the crucial decision and bring back normalcy to the state during this cooling period.As a corollary to the announcement on Tissue, there is widespread speculation about key political changes at the state level.It will be preposterous to give credence to the speculation but the tell-tale indications are there for all to see.
If things get a turn for the worse and the situation on the law and order front deteriorates in the wake of the announcement of the long-awaited final solution, AP faces the spectre of imposition of Presidents rule for the second time in its chequered history.Following the unprecedented Telangana agitation during 1968-71 and Jai Andhra movement during 1972-73,the state came under Presidents rule on January 11,1973,with the dismissal of Congress government headed by P V Narasimha Rao just two weeks after cabinet expansion to soothe regional passions.The state remained under Presidents rule for 11 months,till December 10,1973,when a popular government under Jalagam Vengal Rao was sworn in,after a solution was hammered out by the Union government and Congress high command led by Indira Gandhi. Earlier,in the erstwhile Andhra state,Presidents rule was clamped for about four and a half months when the ministry headed by Tangturi Prakasam was dismissed after losing its majority.It will not be out of place to anticipate such a scenario in AP now.
Tailpiece:
While all the other parties are waiting with bated breath for the Centres decision,one party seems unperturbed by this anxiety.YSR Congress seems to be sitting pretty with the purported survey commissioned by a Congress MP predicting a landslide for YS Jagans party if the Assembly elections are held now.This survey forecasts 191 seats for YSR Congress,48 for TRS,29 for Congress,11 for TDP,8 for MIM,4 for BJP and three for Independents,in a 294-member House.It will be interesting to watch Jagan as Leader of the House and K T Rama Rao as the Leader of Opposition crossing swords on the floor of the Assembly!
(The writer is member of legislative council and a journalist)
(Source-TOI)
One thing is apparent.Whatever be the decision,the Centre is already working on contingency plans to deal with the fall-out of its decision to be pronounced on January 28.If you look at the emerging scenario,the state government has begun preparations in anticipation of the D-Day announcement. Quietly, the Congress regime in the state is following the instructions of the party high command. After the AP Congress Committees brain-storming convention held on December 16,2012,the party high command has asked the state Congress leadership to put the partys regional and sub-regional conventions on hold.
Despite CM Kiran Kumar Reddys promise to fill up non-official posts,such as chairperson and members/ directors posts in various government-run corporations,committees and boards,before the Sankranti festival,nothing seems to be happening,with the Congress high command withholding the nod once again.To top it all,the state legislatures budget session has been rescheduled to commence on March 11,though in the past,the budget session usually began in the second or third week of February.Finance minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy has also announced that the government would go initially for a vote-on-account budget and after the budgetary demands are vetted by the standing committees,the final budget would be passed before May 15.
Apparently,the state government is bracing up for a clear 40-day cooling period between the expected announcement on January 28 and the commencement of budget session of the Assembly.Both the central and the state government would like to tackle the fall-out of the crucial decision and bring back normalcy to the state during this cooling period.As a corollary to the announcement on Tissue, there is widespread speculation about key political changes at the state level.It will be preposterous to give credence to the speculation but the tell-tale indications are there for all to see.
If things get a turn for the worse and the situation on the law and order front deteriorates in the wake of the announcement of the long-awaited final solution, AP faces the spectre of imposition of Presidents rule for the second time in its chequered history.Following the unprecedented Telangana agitation during 1968-71 and Jai Andhra movement during 1972-73,the state came under Presidents rule on January 11,1973,with the dismissal of Congress government headed by P V Narasimha Rao just two weeks after cabinet expansion to soothe regional passions.The state remained under Presidents rule for 11 months,till December 10,1973,when a popular government under Jalagam Vengal Rao was sworn in,after a solution was hammered out by the Union government and Congress high command led by Indira Gandhi. Earlier,in the erstwhile Andhra state,Presidents rule was clamped for about four and a half months when the ministry headed by Tangturi Prakasam was dismissed after losing its majority.It will not be out of place to anticipate such a scenario in AP now.
Tailpiece:
While all the other parties are waiting with bated breath for the Centres decision,one party seems unperturbed by this anxiety.YSR Congress seems to be sitting pretty with the purported survey commissioned by a Congress MP predicting a landslide for YS Jagans party if the Assembly elections are held now.This survey forecasts 191 seats for YSR Congress,48 for TRS,29 for Congress,11 for TDP,8 for MIM,4 for BJP and three for Independents,in a 294-member House.It will be interesting to watch Jagan as Leader of the House and K T Rama Rao as the Leader of Opposition crossing swords on the floor of the Assembly!
(The writer is member of legislative council and a journalist)
(Source-TOI)
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