The Srikrishna Committee report on the Telangana / Andhra Pradesh issue has finally been released. At the all-party meet held in New Delhi today, Union home minister P Chidambaram discussed the contents of the 800-page report.
The Srikrishna Committee favours keeping the state united (point 1). The following are the 6 options (in decreasing order of priority - so point 1 is most preferred) in the Srikrishna Committee report, for which state has been waiting for with bated breath:
1. Maintaining the current united status, and creating 3 separate boards for the development (for Education, Irrigation and General Development) of backward districts in Telangana
2. Dividing Andhra Pradesh into 2 parts, Telangana and Seemandhra (which is basically reverting to the pre-1956 status), with Hyderabad as a Union Territory, and the 2 states developing their own capitals in due course
3. Club Rayalaseema and Telangana into a state called "RayalaTelangana", of which Hyderabad will be an integral part - Coastal Andhra to be separate state
4. Dividing Andhra Pradesh into 2 parts, Telangana and Seemandhra, and clubbing Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Mahabubnagar and Nalgonda into a Union Territory, and making it the joint capital of the 2 states above (the clubbing is to ensure routes into both Rayalaseema and Andhra from the capital)
5. Dividing Andhra Pradesh into 2 parts, Telangana and Seemandhra, with Hyderabad as capital of Telangana, and Seemandhra having new capital
6. Retain things the way they are, with a statutory Telangana Regional Council being created for socio-economic development and political empowerment of Telangana
3 main parties - TRS, BJP and TDP - skipped the meeting, stating that they will settle for nothing less than a separate Telangana state.
Chidambaram has urged AP's political parties to "give careful, thoughtful, impartial consideration to the report", and to "read the report with an open mind". The home minister also suggested another all-party meet later this month after all the regional parties have read the report.
The possible
implications of the report for the political dynamics of Andhra Pradesh are significant.
Meanwhile, the city has partially shut down to protect itself from any possible violent retaliation by certain groups in Hyderabad. Shopping malls and complexes have been covered with nets to protect them from posisble stone-pelting, and paramilitary forces dot critical points of the city.
Also read: Implications for the Congress/UPA Union Government
The Srikrishna Committee Report: Explained