The UPA government may have called for all-party meeting on Telangana state formation with good intentions but in political circles here there is a lurking suspicion over the motives of the ruling party.
This will be the third all-party meeting on Telangana since 2009, second since Sushil Kumar Shinde became the Union Home Minister.
Shinde announcement was treated with contempt and suspicion by the Telangana agitators who alleged the hand of Seemandhra MPs and Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy in forcing the Centre to take a re-look at the CWC decision on Telangana.
The all-party meeting next week is to discuss issues related to the bifurcation of the State ahead of the third meeting of the Group of Ministers on 7 November to evolve political consensus on contentious issues.
Shinde sought to pooh pooh the criticism by T groups and said the terms of reference approved by the Cabinet will be the focal point of discussions.
But sources in Seemandhra lobby said the all party meeting will take up the issue of financial package to backward districts of Seemandhra and equal distribution of resources and the issue of Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy district.
The Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami on Thursday said he had written to all eight political parties in the state seeking their opinion on the terms of reference of the GoM.
Meanwhile Union Home Minister also called on President Pranab Mukherjee and gave clarifications on the issues raised by Kiran and that explained that there was no bypassing of the AP assembly or any established procedure in the bifurcation of Telangana.
Shinde’s announcement has come as a surprise to the Telangana lobby particularly in the TDP and the BJP. Political observers see in it a strategy to force the parties to accept openly the draft T Bill before it is tabled in Parliament.
As all the other parties, except the TDP, have taken a clear stand either in support of or against bifurcation, the Center’s move might put it in a spot of bother.
It would not be difficult for the YSRC as it has already taken a U-turn on the T-issue. The party might use the platform to oppose division of the State. But the TDP is walking a tightrope, demanding equal justice to all in the hope of keeping its base intact in Telangana and Seemandhra.
“If our party demands concessions for Hyderabad, it will invite the wrath of Telangana. If it demands a financial package for Seemandhra, it will be pushed to a corner in the region. Either way, the all-party meet will be a litmus test,” said a Seemandhra TDP leader.
