It is getting harder for the Congress party to muster support for the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh with the Samajwadi Party maintaining that it was opposed to the creation of smaller States.
Internal bickering in the Congress also worsened on Monday as party MPs from Telangana accused Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy of aiding the protests by Telugu Desam Party and YSR Congress Party against the party’s high command.
The Congress, however, continued to defend the decision, claiming that all parties, except the CPI(M), had supported the State’s division.
Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh, who was instrumental in making the Congress Working Committee take the decision, said the party would take care of the “genuine” concerns over security in Hyderabad, education, health, employment and a package for development.
He appealed to the State Government employees to resume work. “They are losing their salaries and causing hardship to people,” Singh tweeted. He had earlier said that the TDP and the YSRCP had supported Telangana State at the all-party meetings.
In a setback to the Congress’s move, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said his party was opposed to creation of smaller States by dividing bigger ones.
“Such administrative units are prone to problems due to lack of resources. Naxalism is one major problem which is prevailing in smaller States,” Yadav said.
Meanwhile, a group of Congress MPs from Telangana, led by Ponnam Prabhakar, said Jagan Mohan Reddy and Chandrababu Naidu were trying to gain political mileage by changing their mind on Telangana.
They said the Centre was following the process laid out by the Constitution in dividing the State.
The MPs alleged that Kiran Reddy and his office were aiding the Opposition for holding protests against the Centre.
Meanwhile, the TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu began an indefinite hunger strike here on Monday against the Cabinet’s decision.
“They (Congress party) are treating the Andhra Pradesh issue as the internal affair of the party. They are interested in politics, not governance or the State or the people. Things are becoming worse day by day,” Naidu said.
Attacking Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, he said some people in the Government understood only Italian and not the sentiments of the common people.
He used the Italian word immobilismo to explain that things were at a standstill in Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra regions. Naidu said people in Andhra Pradesh were losing confidence in the political system and there was chaos.
“We are all party to that. They have lost confidence in elected representatives,” he added.