No merger, for now

TRS will have alliance with Cong for polls

KCR promised merger with Congress if separate Telangana was formed. Will he keep up the promise?

We promised merger after weighing all the facts. We cannot merge blindly. There are lots of issues which need to be addressed and we are working on the probabilities.

Congress leaders like Digvijay Singh feel you are retracting from the understanding. Is it true?

The merger was always read with ifs and buts; we can’t do anything in a hurry.

However, we will have electoral alliance with the Congress for the next elections.

There is no CM after Kiran Kumar Reddy’s resignation, Will KCR take up the hot seat if proposed by The Congress?

No

There are whispers that the high command has offered the hot seat to KCR?

We did not hear of such whispers.

KCR had stated earlier that he had no plans to become Chief Minister of the new State. Instead he would nominate a Harijan for the post. Will he take up the CM’s position after elections if you are in majority?

Depends. But we will surely ask KCR to become the Chief Minister. He will surely go by the party decision.

What are the factors that helped /contributed in forming a separate Telangana?

Coalition politics. The problem with Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP is that it had no clear position on the shape of things to come. Naidu had supported the creation of Telangana in the belief that the Congress government at the Centre will never give it and in the process, he will be able to consolidate his position in that part of the state. Now that the Congress agreed to create Telangana, he has been caught in a web of his own making. He had withdrawn his letter for a separate Telangana state and because of it he is losing support in the Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema regions.

It is actually a war of survival that he is waging. His attempts to align with the BJP should not surprise anyone even though he had vowed publicly never to be on the same side as the saffron brigade keeping his Muslim vote constituency in mind. In 1999, he had won the state largely because of Atal Behari Vajpayee’s popularity in the wake of the Kargil conflict. Now Naidu perhaps wants to ride on Narendra Modi’s popularity to salvage his position in the state, which is very shaky as there is no dearth of people who believe that he is siding with the Congress to keep out Jaganmohan Reddy. In sharp contrast, Jaganmohan Reddy is being seen as the only one who has read the mood of the people correctly. KCR pursued this dream for 13 years. There was an understanding with the UPA in 2004. Then he met Bajrang Dal people and requested their support and so alliances were formed and the Jai Telangana movement gained momentum.

Now that the formation of Telanagana is a reality, what is the status of Andhraites in Telanagana?

This is a state fight and not a street fight. The states are being separated for good governance. Hyderabad belongs to everyone. In fact if a person from Andhra would want to set up an industry in Telangana we would spread a red carpet. We would grow as two states together. Whereas what we actually meant was that Andhra and Telangana employees would have no option but to work in their respective regions after the bifurcation. The jobs would have to be shared by domicile.

Do you think Naxalism will burgeon in Telanagana state?

No, this is a misconception that Naxalism will increase; poverty will show its face in Telangana. These are unimaginable fears.

There are a lot of loose ends/problems in the formation of a separate Telangana. Issues like water, electricity, education need to be addressed. How much time will it take?

Each issue will take a different timeframe. Issue-based logistics will have to be worked out. We will strive to add 15,000mw in less than five years. A series of plants (each 600 mw x 2) will be set up in the coal belt from Ramagundam to Manuguru. Telangana should become a surplus power State because Hyderabad was poised to become the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR), which will convert the city into another Silicon Valley. Telangana state will have two autonomous water authorities -- Godavari River Valley Authority and Krishna River Valley Authority will be set up, through which about 1 crore acres of land will be provided with water for irrigation.

How did the TRS conceive statehood for Telangana?

The Telengana issue has to be understood from this background. Andhra and Rayalaseema region were part of Madras Province directly under the control of Britishers, administered by colonial bureaucracy. Telugu people (mostly Telugu Brahmins) from Andhra and Seema joined the bureaucracy in large numbers (along with those from Tamil Nadu). Whereas the people from Telengana were under the Hyderabad State ruled by Nizam, and were part of the administration of princely states. So naturally very few people from this region joined the British bureaucracy.

At political level, the British introduced an alien system of democracy in the Andhra and Seema regions, and people of that region had the advantage of early start in establishing political parties. Whereas in Hyderabad state, this political model was non-existent. The administration of new united Andhra was filled with Telugu IAS officers of Madras Province. The business people of Andhra and Seema, who were established in Madras Province, took over the new united Andhra. And politically the parties started by the people of Andhra and Seema dominated the new State. We cannot tell that separate Telangana will solve all the issues discussed above. But it will ensure that the domination by Andhra and Rayalaseema people will be curbed, and the people of Telangana will get the political power to plan for themselves.

What is the impact of CM Kiran Kumar Reddy’s resignation?

No impact. KCR resigned from three posts in 2004 and gave birth to the Telanagana movement and Kiran Kumar Reddy’s resignation as CM, MLA and from the Congress party carved a new state.

What is the reading of poll outcome of TRS in the elections 2014?

Sweeping majority. We will win all the seats we contest.

BJP-TDP alliance? Your comments.

Telugu Desam makes a lot of noise and there is no alliance.

What about Modi wave in Telangana?

It is a euphoria. At least the people in Telangana know Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley but not Modi.

What can the people in Telangana dream of?

Our biggest dream is to give compulsory and free education from KG to PG which will cost about Rs 5,000 crore.