If political groups had their way, Andhra Pradesh would be torn in three. A separate Telegana was only a glimmer of a possibility until recently, but now all parties barring the Congress have backed the cause. Even the TDP, bitterly opposed to the move for decades has turned around, and the Left and BJP have also fallen in line. The Congress is seriously contemplating the issue with Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. Sonia Gandhi also held out hope to Nava Telangana Party leader Devender Goud, and with elections coming up, the Congress position is expected sooner rather than later. The issue is also expected to come up in Parliament when it meets in December.

But the prospect of a separate Telangana has renewed decades-old demands from the states’ other regions. Historically, AP consists of three very distinct regions — coastal Andhra, Telangana and Rayalaseema. Integrating them into a single state in 1956 was based on several compromises and agreements. Unresolved issues sparked off two violent movements — the Telangana agitation in 1969 and Jai Andhra Movement in 1972. Rayalaseema, Hyderabad and north Andhra, have their own separate ideas, and creating a separate Telangana state would open a can of worms in the rest of the state.

Interestingly, though Telangana has become such an important issue ahead of state elections, “pure Telangana” parties hardly have any political base. The TRS was routed in its Telangana bastion in by-elections in July 2008 — winning only 7 of 16 Assembly seats and two of four Lok Sabha seats.

... contd.