As part of its strategy to find an amicable solution to the Telangana issue, the Centre seems to be working on a plan to separate Telangana and Hyderabad. The bone of contention has been deciding the capital with both the people of Andhra and Rayalaseema not willing to give up Hyderabad.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

According to sources, a proposal to keep Hyderabad as a common capital is likely to be thrown up by the Centre before taking a decision on according statehood to Telangana. The proposal would not make any promise on continuance of Hyderabad as capital for ever but would specify a timeframe.

“Primarily, people and businessmen from Andhra and Rayalaseema have high stakes in Hyderabad. It is impossible to detach Hyderabad from the non-Telangana regions of the state at this point. Even if Telangana is made into a separate state, the remainder of Andhra Pradesh will have to work on developing a capital for itself with all the infrastructure, including buildings for the assembly, secretariat, high court, etc. So, a proposal for sharing the capital, say for 10 years, with an option to extend it for allowing Andhra to develop the infrastructure can not be ruled out,” a source said.

The sources are also indicating at the way the MLAs and MPs of Hyderabad have kept away from the mass resignations in favour of Telangana as a step towards keeping Hyderabad neutral for now.

Though about 45 MLAs and 10 MPs of the Congress have tendered their resignations on Monday and Tuesday, a majority of them representing various constituencies in and around Hyderabad have preferred to stay away from the action. Two MPs from Hyderabad — S Satyanarayana and Anjan Kumar Yadav - have declared openly that they would abide by the decision of the high command and the Centre and would not quit.

The high command, too, is said to have got some things clear. “There is some clarity now. If Hyderabad is delinked from the issue, it is easy for the high command and the Centre to achieve consensus on according statehood to Telangana. However, the people and politicians in Telangana are not in favour of accepting Telangana state without Hyderabad. So, making Hyderabad a common capital by putting a timeframe to it and option to extend the timeframe is being seen as an amicable solution,” another senior politician in Delhi said.