For the first time since the Congress Working Committee (CWC) announced its decision favouring formation of Telangana state on July 30, there are serious doubts being raised political circles over the possibility of the new state coming into being before the 2014 general elections.
Going by the bitter divisions within the political parties in Andhra Pradesh and the delay in responses from various ministries in giving their inputs to the Union Home Ministry, there are genuine doubts over whether the process of bifurcation can move forward under such circumstances.
All major parties in the state are in a state of utter confusion with the opinion vertically divided on the issue of division of the state, Except Telangana rashtra Samithi (TRS) and CPI, no other party has given clarity on the matter as they are facing internal divisions.
The state Congress unit is a divided house and has failed to send a common reply to the Union Home Ministry's letter seeking suggestions on the terms of reference of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Telangana.
The Telugu Desam Party, YSR Congress Party and CPI (M) have refused to respond to the Home Ministry's letter.
Even the BJP, which has been steadfastly supporting the Telangana statehood cause, has sought more time to send inputs.
The saffron party wants to corner the UPA leadership on the issue and deny it the credit for fulfilling the statehood dream. The MIM, on the other hand, gave another twist to the Telangana saga by demanding formation of Greater Telangana state by clubbing two Rayalaseema districts of Anantapur and Kurnool.
Under these circumstances, the UPA leadership will certainly find it difficult to carry forward the bifurcation process. There are also questions about the constitutional conventions and procedures.
The Seemandhra lobby, cutting across party lines, has been arguing that new state cannot be formed without the Assembly resolution and cited the recent examples of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh states.
"At present, the situation is very fluid. There is instability in the state. How can a new state be formed under such conditions? Can a structure be constructed on a weak foundation? Will it be stable?," wondered a senior political analyst.
