Even as the UPA government is moving ahead at a rapid speed to complete the bifurcation process at the earliest, the main opposition Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu still remains confused as to what he should do now.
It is not clear what exactly he wants at this stage.
Every time the UPA government crosses an important milestone on its path to creation of separate Telangana state, Naidu appears before the media after much hesitation and makes a general attack on the Congress.
However, he always prefers to keep mum and remains evasive when asked about the specifics.
What exactly are his demands? Whether he wants Andhra Pradesh to remain united or divided and what specific measures will constitute "equal justice" that he keeps referring to? Nobody knows answers to these questions.
Even after the Union Cabinet cleared the proposal for formation of Telangana state with ten districts including Hyderabad, Naidu came before the media nearly 20 hours after the announcement and lambasted the Congress for the way it was going ahead with the division process.
Strangely, he raised objections over bringing the draft Telangana bill as a "table item" at the cabinet. How does it make any difference to the issue on hand? Then, he went to crticise the UPA government for not giving enough time for the Union Ministers to go through the content of the bill. But, what is his party's stand on the specifics of bifurcation? He did not answer.
There seems to be no end to the flip-flops that Naidu has been making on the division issue.
Now, in a latest formulation, the TDP supremo demanded that the Centre stop the state bifurcation process till a solution acceptable to both Seemandhra and Telangana people emerged.
Does he really think that the people of Seemandhra and Telangana will come to an understanding on dividing the state? He also wanted the Centre to convene a series of meetings with the stake-holders like JAC leaders, students and others, excluding politicians, from both Seemandhra and Telangana regions.
This looks like another completely evasive strategy. When elected representatives of recognised political parties were involved in a prolonged exercise on bifurcation, what more can be achieved now by inviting JACs?. In fact, his own party had given consent letters to the Centre, pledging its support for formation of Telangana state.
As a senior politician of the state who had served as Chief Minister for nine years and as opposition leader for another nine years, Naidu is expected to come up with specific suggestions on how to tackle the disputes arising out of the division of AP. How can he oppose the bifurcation of the state at this stage after having agreed for it?
“The division process should be acceptable to people of both the regions,” he says.
Asked whether TDP would vote against draft T-Bill in the Assembly, Naidu said that his intention was not to vote against the Bill. “The state should be divided in a way that two brothers would divide property between themselves in a cordial atmosphere,” he explained.
