HYDERABAD, 23 May — Concerned over the growing popularity of the month-old Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and its demand for a separate state, the Andhra Pradesh government is likely to announce sops for Telangana.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is seeking help from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to clear irrigation projects for the Telangana region, which covers 10 districts of the state.
He is said to be putting pressure on Vajpayee not to accept the demand for a Telangana state and to rein in leaders of his Hindu extremist Bhratiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state tacitly backing the demand, sources here said.
TRS convener K. Chandrasekhar Rao was once Naidu’s confidant. Naidu, who never refers to Telangana or Rao by name in his speeches, argues that the case for a separate state in Andhra Pradesh should not be equated with the earlier case for Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh or Uttaranchal and that a separate Telangana would not be in the interests of people of Andhra Pradesh.
Perturbed over the tremendous public response the TRS has been getting in the Telangana region — Rao’s first public rally at Karimnagar on May 17 drew great response — Naidu is adopting a two-pronged strategy. Naidu, whose party extends crucial support to the Vajpayee government, is on the one hand pressurizing the prime minister not to give in on the demand for Telangana.
At the same time, he is working on a comprehensive package to develop the backward region. He hopes the strategy would eat into Rao’s popularity. According to sources here in the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Naidu is pressing the prime minister to take up irrigation schemes to utilize the Godavari waters for irrigation in Telangana. He sought New Delhi’s clearance of the Inchampalli irrigation-cum-hydel project that has been pending for more than three decades. It is expected to benefit five of the region’s 10 districts.
The TDP is also likely to announce other sops to the region on the eve of its state convention to be held May 27 at Visakhapatnam. The party will pass a resolution reiterating its commitment to the development of backward areas.
The party is also likely to discuss the threat posed by Rao’s outfit. To embarrass Naidu, Congress party legislators from the region are stepping up pressure on President Sonia Gandhi to accept the demand for a separate Telangana, while some BJP leaders are openly supporting the demand.
