Uttam suggests Centre to go for Fifth Option

Huzurnagar Mla Uttam Kumar Reddy, the Congress representative to the all-party conclave which met earlier in the day to receive the Justice Srikrishna Commission Report, said that he favoured Option Number Five, which recommends bifurcation of the state with Hyderabad being the Capital of Telangana.

The other representative sent by the Congress, Eluru MP Kavuri Sambhasiva Rao however said that he would react only after going through the Justice Srikrishna Commission Report thoroughly.

Talking to media persons after attending the all-party meeting convened by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi, Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the Commission has gave valuable recommendation on the situation in the state.

When the reporters asked Mr Sambhasiva Rao about the six options recommended by the Commission, he said, “I will react only after studying the complete report thoroughly.”

Mr Sambhasiva Rao also congratulated the Commission members for submitting the report as per the deadline and expressed his happiness at Union Home Minister P Chidambaram for convening the all-party meeting immediately within one week after the submission of report.

Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy revealed that he had submitted a letter to the Union Home Minister protesting the deployment of Central paramilitary forces in Telangana. He urged Mr Chidambaram to immediately withdraw the Central forces from the state.  

The six options given by the Panel are:- 1) Maintaining Status Quo: The unanimous view of the Panel is that this option is not a practical approach, in light of the situation.

2)   Bifurcate Andhra Pradesh into Seemandhra and Telangana states with Hyderabad as a Union Territory and the two resultant states developing their own capitals in due course. The Panel said that the likelihood of this option resulting in serious backlashes in Telangana region, making it impracticable.

3) Bifurcate Andhra Pradesh into two states, Rayala-Telangana and Coastal Andhra states with Hyderabad being an integral part of Rayala-Telangana. The Panel added that this option would not be acceptable by both pro-Telangana or by the pro-United Andhra protagonists, even though this may have economic justification.

4) Bifurcating Andhra Pradesh into Seemandhra and Telangana states while Hyderabad is granted the status of a Union Territory. The Panel recommended that the Union Territory of Hyderabad can be made up of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Areas with it being connected to both Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions via Nalgonda district in the south-east to Guntur district in coastal Andhra and through Mahabubnagar district connecting it to Kurnool district in Rayalaseema. The Panel also expressed the view that this would be opposed by Telangana protagonists and will be difficult to be accepted.

5). Bifurcation of the state into Telangana and Seemandhra states as per existing boundaries with Hyderabad as the capital of Telangana and Seemandhra to have a new capital. The Panel said that this option should be given consideration. The Panel said that if this option is pursued, care must be taken to allay the fears of the business community, especially of those originating from Seemandhra, that their business interests are safe.

The Panel further emphasised that though this option would satisfy a large number of people, this is the second most preferred option and must be taken if bifurcation is unavoidable.

6) Keep the state united and provide certain definite constitutional/statuary measures for socio-economic development and political empowerment of Telangana region-creation of a statutorily-empowered Telangana Regional Council.

The Panel recommended that this option can be taken up with the establishment of a Telangana Regional Council with adequate transfer of funds, functions and functionaries.