What made the UPA leadership to make an U-turn on Rayala Telangana proposal?
Why did it, in the last minute, revert to the original idea of Telangana state with ten districts?
According to sources, it was pressure from the main opposition BJP that did the trick.
A few hours before the union cabinet was to meet, the senior member of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Telangana, Jairam Ramesh had a meeting with senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu.
He sought to sell the Rayala Telangana idea to BJP leader, explaining the advantages behind the proposal to divide Andhra Pradesh into two equal parts so that there would no disputes in sharing of river waters and irrigation projects.
However, the BJP leader made it clear that his party would not support Rayala Telangana bill under any circumstances.
The UPA government needs the support of the main opposition BJP to get the state re-organisation bill passed in the Parliament.
There was no option for the government other than withdrawing its proposal to add Kurnool and Anantapur districts to the Telangana region.
Moreover, it also took into account the strong opposition in the Telangana region, both from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and also from its own party leaders in the region.
By pushing for Rayala Telangana formula at this juncture would have caused lot of damage to the ruling Congress.
The cabinet meeting is expected to clear the Telangana bill in accordance with the Congress Working Committee's resolution for creation of Separate Telangana state with ten districts and Hyderabad as the common capital for a period of ten years.
