mtT2A2vB0yeyh1P96ET6MwCVJjc GREATER HYDERABAD BLOG: AP NEWS ON TELANGANA

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13 February 2010

AP NEWS ON TELANGANA



AP can’t come to Terms

City Faces A Bandh Today Too

TIMES NEWS NETWORK


Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh appeared to be set for another spell of unrest with those seeking its bifurcation terming the B N Srikrishna committee’s terms of reference announced by the Centre on Friday as a ‘big betrayal’. And as a protest, yet another bandh has been called on Saturday.


“The terms of reference are baseless, meaningless and mindless. The Centre has betrayed the Telangana people once again as it does not say anything about formation of a separate state,” TRS boss K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) told the media after confabulating with his lieutenants.


“All our 13 elected representatives, including myself, will submit our resignations in the prescribed format to the speakers, beginning with our 10 MLAs on Saturday,” he said.


The month-old Joint Action Committee (JAC) fanning the Telangana fire also rejected the terms of reference saying that it undid Union home minister P Chidambaram’s statement in New Delhi on Dec. 9. “It is a complete betrayal of the people of the region. We have no option but to support the bandh on Saturday and intensify the agitation,” JAC convenor M Kodandaram said. The JAC is slated to meet on Saturday.


It was the Osmania University students’ action committee that announced Saturday’s bandh. But within hours, TRS, Telangana TDP, Telangana JAC of political parties and the BJP announced their support for it.


“With umpteen bandhs in the past few weeks, it remains to be seen how successful would this one be,” remarked a senior cop. He, however, said that police were prepared to tackle troublemakers.


It being a weekend, the APSRTC — which bore the brunt in earlier protests — said it will operate as usual in the morning and cancel services only if vehicles are targeted.


With no clear go-ahead for his desire to divide, KCR took strong exception to the committee clubbing the demand for division with that of those seeking to keep the state united. “The demand for Telangana has been there for the past 60 years. The so-called United Andhra one is hardly 53 days old. The latter is only a counter agitation and not a genuine one. How can both of them be equated?” asked KCR.


But it is the 52 Congress and 39 TDP MLAs from Telangana who are in a bind. While senior leaders such as RS MP V Hanumantha Rao and PCC chief D Srinivas welcomed the terms, other MLAs, barring Nagarjunasagar MLA K Jana Reddy, dived for cover. “They may threaten to resign from the assembly, but will be prevailed upon by the Congress high command,” said one Congress leader.


In the TDP, leaders from Telangana rejected the terms saying that it was an attempt to put the issue in cold storage. The Telangana TDP leaders are maintaining that they will resign if the Congress MLAs do so. “The TRS resignation drama has put pressure on the Congress and TDP MLAs. But if the Congress MLAs do not quit, neither will the TDP leaders,” said one TDP leader.


TERMS OF REFERENCE


To examine the AP situation with reference to the demand for Telangana state as well as maintaining status quo

To review the developments in the state since its formation and its impact on the three regions

To examine the impact of the recent developments on women, children, students, minorities and other weaker sections

To identify the key issues to be addressed while considering the matters mentioned above

To consult all sections of the people, especially political parties, to identify the optimal solutions; and to recommend a plan of action and a road map

To consult representatives of trade and industry, farmers and others with specific reference to all round development of the three regions of AP

To make any other suggestion or recommendation that the panel may deem fit

The Committee is requested to submit its report by Dec. 31, 2010



It’s final: No IPL games in city

Hyderabad: Two days of hectic lobbying by the state government with the powers that be in BCCI have come to a nought with the Indian Premier League finally pulling out all the matches from the city. Just 24 hours ago, CM K Rosaiah was assured by the former BCCI chief and ICC president-elect Sharad Pawar that he will convince the IPL governing council to retain the games in Hyderabad. But with the Telangana supporters reviving their agitation, the IPL delivered an adverse decision. As of now, there are indications that some of these matches could be moved to Vizag which already has two of the seven games. If not for anything, the IPL looks at it as an effort to give Deccan Chargers the feeling of playing at home. Although no decision has yet been taken about the new venue for these games, indications are the Vidarbbha Cricket Association could get some of these games. TNN Dattatreya rejects TOR


Hyderabad: BJP president Bandaru Dattatreya rejected the terms of reference for B N Srikrishna panel on separate Telangana, even as Prajarajyam MLA from Nirmal A Maheshwar Reddy set out from his constituency on Friday to submit his resignation to the Speaker.


Barring the TDP, politicians from Andhra region, including those from the Congress and PRP, welcomed panel’s terms of reference. “When there is a dispute, one always goes for arbitration. The committee is playing such a role and people should appear before the panel and give their views,” said Congress MP (Anakapalli) Sabbam Hari.


But the TDP leaders from the coastal area opposed the terms of reference. Rajya Sabha MP Mysura Reddy saw in it a conspiracy by Chidambaram to divide the state.

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Will events overtake Srikrishna committee?

Ganesh S Lakshman | TNN


Hyderabad: Even as the B N Srikrishna committee is slated to hold its first meeting in New Delhi on Saturday, many Telangana advocates were of the view that the terms of reference not spelling out a timeframe for the creation of the separate state will only trigger a fresh period of unrest in the region. This will render the panel irrelevant in a shortwhile as events will overtake the committee.


Despite the committee being given time only till the end of this year to submit its report, the Telangana ideologists see it as too wishy washy and attempt to be a please one and all. In effect, the terms of reference is being viewed as a desperate attempt by the Centre to wriggle out of the situation it brought upon itself on December 9, 2009, by announcing the process of creating Telangana, analysts proferred. "We had an indication to this effect when the committee was constituted last week without any reference to Telangana. How can the committee come up with a solution from the political parties to resolve the situation when there is no meeting ground between one region which wants to break away and another which is opposing it?," asked one senior Telangana leader, a trifle amused.


If any unrest in the region does not scuttle the meetings of the committee, then it may set about holding wide ranging consultations with political parties, representatives from the industry, trade, trade unions, farmers, women, students, children, minorities and other weaker sections. At the same time, it is also slated to review the progress of the state since its inception with emphasis on how the three different regions fared.


But the crux of the matter is that at the end, it has to either suggest that the state remain united or that Telangana be created. "Therefore, how can it suggest something that would be acceptable to people of all the three regions," wondered one leader. But history appears to be on the side of those against the division of the state as opposed to those seeking Telangana. No committee appointed by the Centre or any state on sensitive issues like this had its report ready by the time stipulated at the time of its constitution. "Therefore, this committee too is likely to see several extensions. But all that depends on whether the committee is still looked upon as a relevant arbitrator when its term ends on December 31 this year," said an analyst.


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IPL pulls out of city

No Twenty20 Matches In Hyderabad Due To Telangana Crisis

K Shriniwas Rao | TNN


Mumbai: The pro-Telangana agitation that left Andhra Pradesh in a mess ever since it gathered steam a couple of months ago, now has the Indian Premier League (IPL) running for cover too. So beleaguered is the league over the susceptibility to violence in the region that as a safety measure, the IPL governing council has decided to shift all the matches out of Hyderabad.


“It is confirmed that all the matches will be shifted out from there,’’ IPL CEO Sundar Raman told TOI on Friday.


Earlier, IPL boss Lalit Modi had thrown enough hints on such a move when he announced that the opening match of the tournament (vs Kolkata Knight Riders), scheduled to be hosted by defending champions Deccan Chargers, had been shifted to the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. “We will have the gala dinner and the opening ceremony along with the first match. There will be guests from all over and we can’t take a chance with that,’’ Modi had said back then.


However, in the ensuing weeks, the IPL was further convinced that the current situation in Hyderabad is not safe for the rest of the matches too. Out of the Chargers’ seven home matches, only five were scheduled to be played in Hyderabad, while the other two were allotted to Visakhapatnam. Once the Telangana issue cropped up, the opener was shifted to Mumbai.


Now, Navi Mumbai will host the Chargers’ opening game on March 12; Visakhapatnam will host two other matches on March 19 (vs Kings XI, Punjab) & 21 (vs Delhi Daredevils). The rest of the matches will be allotted to a yet to be decided venue outside Andhra Pradesh.


TOI has learnt that the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) in Nagpur, which was earlier scheduled to host three home matches of Mumbai Indians, could host these matches.


Recently, while Chargers were busy playing a practice match in Hyderabad, agitators barged into the playfield and uprooted the stumps, thus disrupting the match. That forced the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) to cordon off the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal and host the Duleep Trophy final without spectators for the first three days. These events further bolstered IPL’s decision to shift out.


Disappointed that his efforts have come to a nought, Andhra Pradesh sports minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy said “It is rather unfortunate that even as we were trying to bring the games back to Hyderabad, the situation in the state deteriorated due to the separate state agitationists. The bandh call given for Saturday must have done bigger damage than anything that happended before,” he said.


Asked if he would pursue with his plan of persuading Deccan Chargers to boycott, he said “How can we ask the team to boycott when the situation itself is not good. The team will unnecessarily suffer.’’


Owners of the Hyderabad franchise, Deccan Chargers, are learnt to have accepted the IPL decision.



Courtesy: Times of India-Hyderabad-13-2-2010

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