TRS Postpones Resignations

KCR has a long-standing reputation for being autocratic and poor at diplomacy, and it came to the fore today after the party was forced to at least temporarily go back on its declaration made yesterday that all its representatives would resign in protest against the Terms of Reference of the Justice Srikrishna Committee.

TRS belongs to the Telangana Political JAC - indeed, it is the founding member, and the party that dominates it, with both the TDP and the Congress owing allegiance more out of the politics of necessity than out of a sense of belonging or ownership - and yet took this resignation decision unilaterally without consulting the JAC.

That has now resulted in a delicate situation. If the TRS takes decisions without the blessings and the endorsement of the JAC, it will be seen as trying to break ranks with the alliance for solo political gains, which will spell the deathknell of the JAC itself, whose core member the TRS is. And the JAC, all said and done, is the TRS trying to legitimise itself - trying to appear like it is committed to the broader cause rather than its own political gains, by being seen as rallying all forces together. Without the JAC, the TRS risks decimating itself, since the Congress and TDP Telangana legislators are increasingly getting their share of the credit for the T-movement, and the JAC helps the TRS look like the leader of 'em all.

Late realization appears to have dawned on the party, perhaps with some not-so-subtle nudging from JAC Convenor Kodandaram himself, and the party has been forced to say this morning that the decision on resignations awaits ratification by the JAC, which is holding meetings today.

Then, nobody likes to resign and spend good money fighting another election, when the possibility of a new state happening looks very remote at least for now - the Committee has a deadline of Dec 31, and Justice Srikrishna took 17 years for his report on his previous assignment. The resignations of just the 10 TRS MLAs and 2 MPs will make no impact on the process. Perhaps KCR has then been done in by his own party legislators, who perhaps asked him for one good reason that they should resign.

For now, the party has said that it will let it be known by the evening whether yesterday's resignation announcement is still on. There's no fun guessing on this one - you perhaps already know what's going to happen.