One wish of Manmohan Singh for Andhra Pradesh remains unfulfilled
The former PM was keen to provide Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh following the formation of Telangana in 2014; however, it was not to be
The people of Telangana remember Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister who helped the passage of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill in February 2014 that birthed the new Telugu state.
Many leaders recall the silent role Manmohan Sigh played in hammering a political consensus for the introduction of the Bill in Parliament.
In the final moments, both Manmohan Singh and then Congress president Sonia Gandhi played a pivotal role in clinching the issue by promising Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh to pacify the region's leaders who vehemently opposed the bifurcation of the state.
Fair deal for Andhra
Many Telangana leaders acknowledged that SCS was the idea of Manmohan Singh and it was endorsed by Sonia Gandhi.
Even at the risk of facing the criticism from Telangana leaders, Manmohan Singh is said to have always stood for a fair deal for Andhra Pradesh which was set to forego the capital city Hyderabad to Telangana. The result was the SCS.
Following the bitterness demonstrated by Andhra Congress leaders in the Lok Sabha during the passage of the Bill, Singh, while addressing the Rajya Sabha on February 20, 2014, announced that an SCS would be "extended to the successor state of Andhra Pradesh for five years". The BJP supported the idea.
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Elections tripped the idea
Since the SCS assurance did not figure in the Bill passed by the Lok Sabha, and it was only an assurance offered by Singh in the Rajya Sabha to address the concerns of Seemandhra (a term that denotes the Andhra Pradesh regions of Rayalaseema plus Coastal Andhra) people, Singh is said to have favoured an amendment to the Act.
The UPA cabinet which met under his chairmanship on March 2, 2014 did consider bringing in an ordinance, amending the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. But the ordinance could not be sent for presidential assent as the date of general election was announced, Congress leaders said.
Thus, Singh's wish to accord SCS to Andhra Pradesh by incorporating it in the Act could not be unfulfilled. The issue is still haunting the state as the BJP-led government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unwilling to accord SCS to Andhra.
How Manmohan was won over
Prof M Kodandaram, who was leading the Telangana movement as the head of the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC), said Manmohan Singh was sympathetic to the Telangana cause out of conviction, not due to party policy.
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“He understood the depth of statehood sentiment after interacting with Prof Jayashankar, the ideologue of the movement. Against the backdrop of self-immolations by the youth, the prime minister sought to know the genesis of the Telangana movement and people’s aspirations. He was thoroughly convinced by the interactions he had with Prof Jayashankar.
“From then on, he always strove to clinch the issue as early as possible. When he came to know that the Bill might face rough weather in the Rajya Sabha due to opposition from Andhra Pradesh, with ingenuity he mooted the proposal of SCS to Andhra Pradesh which calmed the agitating leaders from the region. The bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha without much resistance,” Kodandaram told The Federal.KCR’s tribute to Manmohan
Acknowledging the former Prime Minister’s role in the formation of Telangana, former Chief Minister and BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao said Manmohan Singh was always sympathetic to the cause of Telangana.
“He had understood the Telangana movement and the pulse of the people of the region and gave his support for the establishment of the state,” he said in a statement.
Mourning his death, Rao said Telangana will forever remember the backing the Telangana movement got from Manmohan Singh.