Decision of granting statehood to Telangana could bring Congress back into the reckoning

NEW DELHI: The Congress has conceded the demand for a separate state of Telangana following an assessment in the party that going back on its promise could cost it support on both sides of the divide. The decision has come at a time, though, when giving in to the demand alone may not suffice for the party to repeat its spectacular performance in the state for the third time running.

With YSR Congress’ YS Jaganmohan Reddy emerging as its chief tormentor in Rayalaseema and coastal regions of Andhra, the decision could bring Congress back into the reckoning in Telangana.

While Congress leaders admit that the decision could make the party even more unpopular in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra, they say an above-par performance in Telangana can limit the damage. They expect the goodwill generated in Telangana districts coupled with a merger with the TRS to improve the party’s electoral prospects in the next Lok Sabha polls.

AP was the party’s biggest catchment area in the 2004 and 2009 general elections. The past few months have shown that YSR Congress’ support base has moved beyond Rayalaseema and pockets of coastal Andhra.

Congress leaders admit merger of Chiranjeevi’s PRP into Congress has not improved the party’s stock in Rayalaseema. The recent opinion polls have also pointed to the emergence of YSR Congress as the dominant force in the state. The demography of the new state could increase the possibility of polarisation, making BJP a credible player in Telangana. “Congress is expecting an oversized impact on the 2014 elections.

But they are mistaken as voters formed their opinion long ago,” said BJP general secretary Dharmendra Pradhan. Expressing unhappiness over the division, J&K CM Omar Abdullah said it was a dangerous precedent to create new states on the basis of agitations. “Bundelkhand, Gorkhaland could be next. Such piecemeal reorganisation must not happen.”

In Darjeeling, the truce worked out by Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has collapsed, with Gorkha Janamukti Morcha’s president Bimal Gurung announcing his plans to resign as the chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. Activists in favour of a separate Vidarbha have followed suit, with a committee being formed to organise agitations in the region.