Hyderabad, February 07: Even as the Centre has set up a panel to study the Telangana statehood demand and the opposition to it, there is a new idea being floated so as to meet the aspirations of the people of the region and at the same time address the concerns of coastal Andhra.
In essence, it is the creation of a State within a State, without exactly bifurcating Andhra Pradesh but at the same time granting autonomy to Telangana. Academics and intellectuals who are currently working on this idea see this as a possible impasse-breaking option that could end the uncertainty that has been affecting both regions.
The formula is based on two premises.
1) The purpose of seeking a Telangana state is to enable the people through their elected representatives and the executive to take charge of the development of the region with full control over its resources.
2) But this requires removing the opposition in coastal Andhra to a Separation — primarily the sentiment against division of a linguistic state and apprehension about protection of the interests of people from that region who have settled in Hyderabad and nearby areas.
According to this theory, Hyderabad should continue to be a part of the region and be the capital of Telangana. At the same time, since formation of an autonomous state of Telangana does not require the division of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad can also continue to be the capital of the same. It can thus avoid the most contentious issue: the status of Hyderabad in the event of separation.
The advantage of this route, according to its proponents, who do not wish to be identified at this time, is that the opposition to separation would be removed since Telangana’s autonomous statehood is proposed without breaking up the linguistic state. It might then be possible to persuade legislators of coastal Andhra to support an appropriate resolution in the Assembly which would enable the Centre to take forward the process. More importantly, the bitterness that has grown between the people of both regions might be mitigated.
Legal experts to whom Express spoke are of the view that creation of such an autonomous State would be possible through an appropriate amendment to the Constitution. One option could be to do it under Article 371 (D) which applies to Andhra Pradesh and deals with special safeguards for Telangana that were created in the past under a Presidential Order. This clause becomes redundant once the autonomous state is created under the same provison.
–Agencies