Unease in Andhra ahead of Srikrishna panel report

HYDERABAD - There is unease, anxiety and suspense as Andhra Pradesh awaits the Srikrishna Committee’s report on the demand for separate statehood to Telangana region.

Hectic activity began in political circles here amid reports from New Delhi that the five-member panel will submit its recommendations to the central government Friday.

With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh discussing the Telangana issue with senior ministers in the national capital and the central government issuing do’s and don’ts to the media, various speculations were doing the rounds here.

There was anxiety among protagonists of separate state over some reports that the central government was contemplating to set up another panel to study the Srikrishna Committee views or even form a second states’ reorganisation commission to look into demands for Telangana and other smaller states in the country.

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), which is spearheading the movement for a separate state, began a crucial meeting to chalk out its future course of action, pending the Srikrishna Committee report. TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao and other leaders were in the meeting.

Telangana Praja Front of Maoist sympathiser and revolutionary balladeer Gaddar also held a meeting here to review the situation ahead of the report. He condemned the curbs imposed by the central government on the media for the coverage of the panel’s report.

“We demand the centre to immediately table a bill in parliament for the formation of Telangana state,” Gaddar said.

Congress MP Madhu Yaskhi voiced his apprehension that the Srikrishna Committee may not make a recommendation for formation of Telangana state.

“If the committee makes a recommendation against formation of a separate state, we will rise above party affiliations to launch an agitation,” he said.

Yaskhi, who represents Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency, also blamed Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan and Director General of Police Aravinda Rao for deployment of central paramilitary forces in the state ahead of the report.

Union Minister of State for Defence Pallam Raju said the government was ready to deal with the situation that may arise after the Srikrishna Committee’s report.

He told reporters in Kakinada port town that the central government would implement the panel’s recommendations, and appealed to leaders of all political parties to observe restraint and act responsibly in the interest of the state.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner A.K. Khan said 11 companies of central paramilitary forces were already deployed in the state capital to maintain law and order in view of the committee’s report. Seven more companies would be deployed in a day or two, he said.

In all, 25 companies, each comprising 120 personnel, would be deployed in and around Hyderabad. Five companies have been deployed in Cyberabad, the Information Technology district which houses many global giants.

The state has sought 50 companies to tackle the situation after the committee submits its report.

The remaining companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will be deployed in other parts of Telangana, Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of the state.

The Srikrishna Committee headed by former Supreme Court Justice B.N. Srikrishna, which is looking into the demands for and against separate Telangana state, is to submit its report to the central government Friday.

The five-member panel was constituted in February after massive protests in Andhra and Rayalaseema and en masse resignations of legislators against the central government’s announcement of Dec 9, 2009.

After 11-day hunger strike by TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao and massive protests in Telangana, the central government had announced that the process for formation of separate Telangana state will be initiated.