Telangana : A story of missed opportunities

“Don’t think small now.” This was the title of an article written by CPM leader Sitaram Yechuri, a Telugu by birth, in The Hindustan Times. He says there are at least 20 demands for separate States across the country. If Telangana statehood is conceded, the other regions will explode. This argument is as old as the hills. Congress president Sonia Gandhi must have heard of this for years from a number of leaders. To take the analogy a little further, the demands for smaller states are becoming vociferous and refusing to die down because the rulers have been thinking small.

“The decision to acquiesce to the demand for a separate Telangana state is an effort at cutting electoral losses…By succumbing to realpolitik the Congress has opened the Pandora’s box”, Yechuri opined. Exactly. The compulsions of realpolitik drive every political party and every politician to resort to unethical and immoral tactics. Sheer political compulsions have triggered the bizarre developments in the last 12 years in Andhra Pradesh. In 2001, Chandrababu Naidu looked like a colossus, and to defeat him the Congress party resorted to unholy politics.

The arguments in favour of demerger and against it apart, the demand for Telangana statehood was made by parties which in reality are staunchly opposed to it. If this is not politics based on power and not on ideals, what is it? Realpolitik can be traced to Otto von Bismarck, who integrated Germany, or Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who merged 550 princely States into India. They were the leaders who did not attach any value to sentiments.

They practised politics of realism. Nehru, an idealist, was of different mould. If realpolitik can be defined as “a ruthlessly realistic and opportunist approach to statesmanship rather than a moralistic one”, Chandrababu Naidu and YS Rajasekhara Reddy, may not be in that order, had proved to be its best practitioners. Sonia Gandhi seems to have a little problem with morality, though she too can excel in realpolitik. Otherwise, she would not have forged electoral understanding with the DMK, the party accused by the Congress of abetting the LTTE in assassinating Rajiv Gandhi. But sometimes, it appears, her conscience pinches and reminds her of the promises made and the need to fulfill them.

Politicians are getting away with all their political crimes because public memory is proverbially very short. All the important players in the drama we have been witnessing endlessly for years are very good players in realpolitik. Atal Behari Vajpayee and Chandrababu Naidu looked invincible in 2001. YS Rajasekhar Reddy, who made all preparations for a swearing in as Chief Minister after the 1999 Assembly elections, was stopped in his tracks by the Kargil War and the goodwill it generated for Vajpayee which benefited the ally, the TDP. The Congress leadership, which included YSR and the national leaders of the party, thought that no stone should be left unturned to fell the NDA and TDP governments.

The sentiments for a separate State that have been dormant for decades came in handy. Congress leaders saw a window of opportunity in the decision of the NDA government to create Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand. Dr Chinna Reddy was encouraged to take up the cause of Telangana statehood forward with the blessings of YSR and the party high command. At that point of time, there was no movement for a separate State. The one mounted by Indra Reddy, a TDP leader who had shifted to the Congress, did not take off. After his death, no leader was talking about Telangana sentiment. K Chandrasekhara Rao was with the TDP as Deputy Speaker of the Assembly.

Dr Chinna Reddy gave an appeal signed by 39 Congress MLAs from Telangana to Sonia Gandhi requesting her to help create a separate State. The issue was debated by the Congress Working Committee which then appointed a sub-committee under the chairmanship of Manmohan Singh. The Congress party sent a letter to the NDA government to demand the formation of a separate State. The Congress leadership was not aware that it was creating a Frankenstein’s monster.

The request for a separate Telangana state was rejected by Lal Krishna Advani, another consummate player in realpolitik. His reason was simple: The TDP was in the NDA coalition. It was against Telangana state. Advani said it in so many words when he visited Hyderabad.

The Congress went ahead with its policy and included the Telangana question in its election manifesto for the 2004 elections. It said Telangana and Vidarbha had to be made separate States and a second State Reorganisation Commission had to be appointed to examine the rest of the demands.

By then the TRS was born and it got into an electoral understanding with the Congress, thanks to Ghulam Nabi Azad, AICC general secretary then in charge of AP. The Congress emerged as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha and it formed the UPA government. The Cabinet was to prepare the draft of the Presidential address to Parliament. The responsibility was given to Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister. It was vetted by none other than Pranab Mukherjee. Abdul Kalam delivered the address in which he said, “Telangana has to be created through consultations”. YSR had used the TRS to vanquish the TDP and then tried to bury the party whose sole raison d’être is statehood for Telangana.

Then came the turn of Naidu who was a stumbling block when the BJP wanted to bifurcate the State, according to Advani. YSR and the UPA looked unbeatable for Naidu in 2009. He had to do something, even if it meant going against his conscience, to defeat the Congress and get back into power. He appointed a committee under the leadership of Yerran Naidu. The committee comprising respectable and elderly leaders like Yanamala Ramakrishnudu and Devendra Goud toured Coastal and Rayalaseema districts, and found out that there was no opposition among the people to the idea of a separate Telangana. The politburo of the TDP had passed a resolution and it was incorporated in the manifesto for the 2009 elections. If this is not realpolitik, what else is? Unfortunately for the TDP, it lost the election and within days it got out of the uneasy relationship with the TRS which is no stranger to opportunistic politics. It could have relationship with both the major parties which don’t see eye to eye on any issue.

The idea is not to blame any party or politician, but to find out what went wrong with us. The politicians, however, have no time to pause and review since they are always busy with sensational developments. Every politician knows what has been brewing for at least 10 years, ever since the Congress party made use of the Telangana sentiment to dethrone the TDP.
Chidambaram, Union Home Minister, on December 9, 2009, made a historic announcement regarding the decision taken by the UPA-II government. That decision was stalled by announcing resignations en masse of the Congress and the TDP members of Parliament and Assembly from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.

Had the leaders of the Congress and the TDP woken up at least at that time to that momentous decision and set out to bring peace, things would have been different. They could have tried to find out the real reasons for frustration on the part of the Telangana people and addressed them. Leaders of the TDP from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema could have toured the Telangana districts in an attempt to dispel misgivings and apprehensions. The Congress leaders also could have undertaken the same kind of work. The leaders of the Congress and the TDP from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, who are crying hoarse about integration now, kept quiet all these months. They perhaps thought that Sonia Gandhi did not have the guts to take a decision in favour of demerger.

Those leaders who are spitting fire at the UPA and are witnessing unseemly scenes of burning of statues of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi should indulge in a bit of introspection. Who forced the hand of Sonia Gandhi? The decision taken by the Congress party may be justified. But the way it was announced is not. The appointment of Antony Committee should have preceded the announcement of the decision. Sonia Gandhi should have called the ministers and all the Congress MPs from the State and told them to go back to their constituencies to explain the reasons for the decision. There seems to be no attempt to prepare the people for the decision.

The criticism that the Congress decision is meant for electoral gains, or as Yechuri said, to cut down electoral losses, was proved correct by none other than Digvijay Singh. While announcing the decision of the Congress Working Committee, Digvijay said TRS would be merging with the Congress. He also said the Congress would win 15 seats in Telangana.
Naidu has reacted like a statesman to the decision. But his MPs have been shouting slogans in Parliament. He has to rein them in. MPs and MLAs belonging to the TDP have to be told by Naidu to help resolve the crisis.

It is the game of one-upmanship practised by leaders of the major parties that is to be blamed. The spate of irresponsible and provocative statements made by leaders of all regions is responsible for the foul atmosphere filled with hatred we find ourselves in. Had the UPA government appointed the second SRC in 2004 and announced the division based on its recommendations, things would have been different. The violence that is horrifying in the language should not get transferred to action. It won’t take time. One spark is enough to ignite a wildfire. The clash between the employees of Coastal Andhra-Rayalaseema and Telangana on Tuesday has to be taken as a warning.

Although TRS leaders, particularly K Chandrasekhara Rao, have been using provocative language, the movement was run sans violence. It was something to be happy about. The way tempers are rising in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema sounds ominous. Top leaders of all political parties have to declare holiday for realpolitik for some time and work for unity among Telugu-speaking people. The real concern should be about the emotional bonding between the Telugu people. We, dear readers, are left to watch the most mischievous and dangerous political strategies unfolding before our very eyes and still are unable to stem the rot. It is like being helpless spectators when our beautiful house is burning.