The
latest decision passed by the Congress Working Committee to bifurcate the state
of Andhra Pradesh and grant Telangana statehood has though come under sharp
attack from the Opposition questioning the timing of the decision, but the fact
remains that a majority of the citizens of Andhra Pradesh has welcomed it. The
popular political rhetoric says that Telengana never destined to be a part of
Andhra as the struggle goes back to five decades. The issue was as much about
identity as about compatibility and neither was satisfied by the existing
situation. No one really knows who coined the word ‘Seemandhra’ to
indicate the non-Telangana regions of Andhra Pradesh. But, the leaders of those two
regions certainly would not have anticipated that the ‘Seemandhra’ spectre would
loom so large and so quickly upon them.
It is clear that the Congress wants to win
at least half of the 33 seats it had won in the 2009 polls in the State, an
objective that gained strength from the recent, not-so-bad show put up by the
party candidates in the first two phases of the panchayat elections. Also
noteworthy is the political strategizing that the party started a few weeks
back by granting Cabinet berths in the latest reshuffle to two of the most
hardcore united Andhra leaders, Kavuri Sambasiva Rao from West Godavari and JD
Seelam from Guntur and then making them responsible for reigning in the
ferocious local leaders in their respective areas.
However there is a lot more than what seems
to meet the eyes. The grand showup of Telangana might be so quick as it now
needs to go through a grilling process, including adoption of state
re-organisation bill by Parliament by a simple majority which would take at
least 6-9 months and would get over just before the general elections. Contrary
to the perception that a Constitution amendment bill is required, the bill to
be adopted by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha does not need a two-thirds majority as
is the case when a Constitution amendment is required to be adopted. At
a Union Cabinet meeting held on 31st July 2013, an in-principle
approval was given for creation of a Group of Ministers (GoM) comprising
Ministers of Home, Finance, HRD, Health, Irrigation, Power, Environment and
Forests, Railways and Deputy Chairman Planning Commission to go into the
economic issues on creation of the new state.
The Home Ministry would submit a note to the Union
Cabinet for creation of Telanagana on the basis of the proposal received from
the state government. The entire process will take at least 40 days. The
Union Home Ministry will prepare another note for the Union Cabinet with
Re-organisation bill on the basis of the recommendations and suggestions of the
GoM requesting the Union Cabinet to approve the State Re-organisation bill and
to recommend to the President to refer the Bill to the legislature of the
state. Andhra Pradesh State Legislature will also have to pass a resolution
that a separate state of Telangana be formed.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance will appoint an
expert Committee to recommend measures for smooth transition in terms of
financial management and viability of the reorganised state. In view of the
normative economic factors that would operate in the remaining state of Andhra
Pradesh consequent upon formation of Telangana state,
a dedicated unit will be set up in the Planning Commission to deal exclusively
with the re-organised state under the direct charge of the Deputy Chairman,
Planning Commission.
It would then be followed by a second
Cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister would recommend to the President that the
draft Bill be referred under Article 3 of the Constitution to the State
Legislature for their views to be given within 30 days. The President would
then refer the Bill to the State Legislature. Both the Andhra Pradesh
Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council will then consider the Bill and
give their views within 30 days. The recommendations of the State Legislature
will be incorporated into the draft Re-organisation Bill and vetted by the Law
Ministry.
A
third note will be then be prepared with draft Re-organisation bill vetted by
the Law Ministry and sent to the Union Cabinet for approval for introduction in
Parliament. Soon, a notice will be given for introduction of the Reorganisation
Bill in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. After introduction in both Houses of
Parliament, the Bill has to be passed by a simple majority. After being passed
by both the Houses of Parliament, the Bill will be sent to President for his
assent and the new state Telangana will come into existence.
So a
lot of work still needs to be done, particularly in the area of division of
resources and water-sharing arrangement, and it might take a year more for the
new state to be officially formed. The Seemandhra region, which has a reason to
feel cheated, could actually gain from the division. The business and
construction activities associated with the new capital city could give its
economy a fillip. While political parties and leaders have already
started claiming brownie points out of it with Narendra Modi’s latest slogan
chants of ‘Jai Telangana’ and ‘Jai Seemandhra’
echoing in Hyderabad. However the audience didn’t seem to oblige much
right?
For
any sorts of bouquets and brickbats feel free to leave a comment below or mail
me at author.vish94@gmail.com
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