New Delhi,Septeember 04:THE US had slammed the UPA government for coming across as weak and feeble while initially agreeing to a separate Telangana state. It said the government was bullied into the decision.
After the Centre did a U- turn on its initial announcement, the US predicted the Congress would drag its feet over the Telangana issue and hope that people tire of the disruptions to their daily lives.
This has been revealed in secret US cables exposed by WikiLeaks. They show that the US embassy in Delhi and the American consulate in Hyderabad closely watched the events of December 2009.
On December 9, 2009, home minister P. Chidambaram had announced that the process of creating the Telangana state would be initiated.
But on December 23, 2009, he said the situation had altered and more consultations were required.
“ The Congress has painted itself into a corner.
The party would like nothing better than a return to the dominant position it enjoyed under the recently deceased Andhra Pradesh CM, YSR Reddy. However, with no easy way to put the statehood genie back in the bottle, the leadership will play for time… a risky strategy given the escalating rhetoric, protests and violence,” the US cable, dated December 24, 2009, said.