A numbers game for three regions

It is all about statistics with the Centre explicitly announcing that there would be no bypassing of the Justice Srikrishna Committee to decide on the state bifurcation and protagonists of Telangana as well as united Andhra Pradesh busy collecting data to back their arguments.

The state, though yet to make an official declaration, is said to have asked Planning Department to prepare data on various issues including income from and expenditure on every district.

In fact, the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, sought to know the region-wise impact of the budget, the finance officials explained to him that such data would not be gathered while preparing the budget.

The Telangana protagonists will highlight violation of the Presidential Order in education and employment, failure to implement 610 GO, discrepancies in creating assured irrigation by constructing projects over a period of time.

On the other hand, those who voice for united state wanted the government to give white paper on expenditure on each region and its proportion to the revenue generated in each district. “There is not truth in their (T protagonists) claim that their resources were plundered. It is other way round,” says Mr V. Arunkumar, Rajahmundry MP.

But, the Justice Srikrishna Commission will once again put the focus on the Congress and the Telugu Desam vis-a-vis the stand they take when appearing before the jury.

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) already gave a call to boycott the committee but the main political players in the region the Congress and the Telugu Desam continued their dual standards.

While leaders of these parties hailing from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions welcomed committee, those from Telangana are nagging about the time frame or lack of some clarity in the terms of reference.