Going by the speed with which the UPA government is moving on the bifurcation process, it is said in political circles that a "significant milestone" will be achieved on December 9, coinciding with the birthday of the UPA chairperson and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
On the same day in 2009, the Congress had announced initiation of the process for formation of separate Telangana state but had to backtrack on it following turmoil and en mass resignations in the Seemandhra region.
This time, however, the ruling party is going ahead in a systematic manner.
In all probability, the UPA government might introduced the bill on Telangana in the Parliament on December 9.
"It will be a fitting birthday gift to Sonia Gandhi," the Congress MP Sarve Satyanarayana said.
All indications point towards such a possibility because of the systematic manner in which the official process is going on.
The Group of Ministers (GoM), constituted by the Centre to work out modalities on bifurcation, has asked the secretaries of key government departments to send their reports by November 5.
These reports will be discussed by the GoM at its next meeting, scheduled on November 7.
A draft bill will be prepared and sent to the President Pranab Mukherjee who will, in turn, refer it to the state Assembly for its opinion.
However, the Assembly's opinion is not binding on the Centre as the Parliament alone has the powers, under Article 3 of the constitution, to create new states. There is a strong of certainty in the Congress circles now that December 9 will certainly be a special day for the Telangana statehood supporters.
