T-issue: Is Congress fooling around?

Playing with words!

With every changing stand of the Congress on the Telangana issue and contradictory views expressed by leaders within the party, it's quite apparent that the Congress has created a labyrinth of sorts!

On Wednesday, three central ministers made three different statements over the contentious issue. Amid the chaos and confusion, one can observe a pattern in their behavior!

While Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had declared that the Telangana issue will be resolved within a month's time, another union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who also happens to be the in-charge of party affairs in the state, said more time was required to take a call on an issue of such nature. This led to a lot of chaos in the state. In the process, while some ministers within the party said they would continue in their posts to bring more pressure on the Centre to resolve the issue soon, the Telangana Congress MPs offered to submit their resignations if the Centre failed to decide upon the issue.

Dramatic turn of events

Soon after the T Congress MPs declared that they would quit their posts, a dramatic turn of events was witnessed in Delhi as well as the state. Madhu Yashki, who went to Delhi as a representative to put pressure on the Centre said, he was reconsidering his decision to resign after PC Chacko's statement. As the party was pro-Telangana, there was no need to resign, said Yashki. Minutes after this statement was out, party MPs Gutta Sukhender Reddy, Manda Jagannadhan, Komatireddy Rajagopalreddy, G. Vivek and Rajaiah declared that they still stood by their decision to resign. The MPs said there was no point in revoking their decision.

Gutta Sukhender Reddy clarified to Sakshi that the MPs were sent to Delhi only to submit resignations and not to have any kind of talks. He also reaffirmed that they will not stop their fight for Telangana till it is resolved. He also said that if an MP is unwilling to resign, it will only be out of his personal will and the party had nothing to do with it. He also said that he has submitted his resignation to Ponnam Prabhakar, who has sent it to party head, Sonia Gandhi's office.

Is Centre the key conspirator?

Analysts strongly believe that contradictory stand by the Telangana Congress MPs is a clear indicator of the hidden agenda of the Congress. Instead of a single spokesperson for the Centre to speak on the issue, there are several leaders making contradictory statements creating a confusion. This has led to  pro-Telangana activists feeling that Congress is deliberately beating around the bush instead of resolving the issue. Once the differences within the party was out in the open, the Congress was quick to get into the damage control mode. A message was sent saying that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had received the resignations of the MPs.

Differences right from the start

Right from the beginning, the members within the party were divided on the strategy to put more pressure on the government to soon take a call on the Telangana issue.   The members who met at Keshav Rao's house deliberated over the issue. 

The MPs on the other hand have even realized the fact that if Congress bows down to TRS pressure, then neither will they get political benefits or personal benefits. That way, they are also letting go of the opportunity to strive towards achieving a separate state for Telangana. 

Meanwhile, the MPs who went to Delhi yesterday after being summoned by the Congress High Command revoked their decision after the declaration made by party representative PC Chacko!

Chacko statement was because of us

The party was firmly on the Telangana stand, the Congress was leaning in favor of Telangana and thus there was no need to go ahead with the resignations, said Madhu Yashki to media."When there will be no effect on the party or the Centre, there was no point in resigning. Also, this will lead to a situation where we have top pressurize the government staying away from the party. Thus we have decided to put pressure on the government staying in our posts. Earlier too, it was because of our efforts during the FDI session in parliament that the all-party meet happened. Even now, only after we put pressure on the government did they have the representative Chacko make a statement in favor of Telangana. We are sure, if we go on with the same strategy, we will be able to achieve the Telangana state."

Former MP K Keshav Rao said that AICC representative PC Chacko's statement holds a lot of significance. He also said he welcomed Chacko's view.

Pending from Sonia's side

The MPs feel that since the resignations have only been sent to Sonia Gandhi's office, there was absolutely nothing to worry. However, it's quite apparent that the MPs landed themselves in a soup by telling the media about their decision to resign even before discussing the same with the party chief. They were forced to submit their resignations to Sonia to save their face and respect after creating such a hue and cry in public about their resignations, said a leader. Party leaders feel that the letters will remain at Sonia's office till the time they are sent to the Speaker for acceptance. So there's no harm and anything can happen in the interim. This is what is the plan of the Congress—to create as much drama as possible—so the decision can be delayed. 

This is what the three representatives from the Centre had to say about the issue:

"When Uttar Pradesh was set to be divided. Both the regions readily agreed to the same. However, in Andhra Pradesh that's not the case. If one region agrees for bifurcation, the other two oppose it

 Till the time there's one decision, the talks with the three regions will go on, " said Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Health Minister, In-charge of state of party affairs.

 "There's nothing new to talk about to Telangana...talks are underway. The final decision will take some time, " said the Union home minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde

"Congress is not against the formation of Telangana. Once the decision is taken, a lot of preparations need to be done. We are waiting for the right time."

PC Chacko, AICC official representative

 -Sakshipost