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Raising the pitch against the state bifurcation, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy today said the division would pose a threat to national security as the majority leadership of the underground naxalite activity hails from the Telangana region.
According to him, a relatively weak government and a reduced strength of police force in a separate state of Telangana would not be able to check the resurgence of the left-wing extremism in this part of the country.
“The Prime Minister several times in the past had said the biggest threat to the country is naxalism. The bifurcation will only add to this problem of national security,” he said in a media address in Delhi after presenting his views against the proposed bifurcation before the Group of Ministers (GoM) led by Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde.
This narration goes beyond the chief minister’s usual reference to the problems - essentially surrounding the issues of water, education and employment - that would arise if the state is divided.
<b>GoM wraps up consultation process</b>
Today’s meeting is possibly the last opportunity for the chief minister to get his views on the issue bifurcation recorded by the Centre as the GoM had wrapped up the consultation process initiated last week. According to the latest reports, the GoM is likely to submit its report to the government by the end of this month and the Union Cabinet is expected to meet in the first week of December to discuss the draft Bill on Telangana.
This is a slight departure from the earlier time lines according to which the draft Bill was to be sent for the consideration of the state legislative Assembly by the end of November, as reported in the media. A serious opposition by the Seemandhra leaders, including those of the Congress and other parties, who have termed the Centre’s decision as a one-sided affair, has made the task of the GoM that much more difficult in eliminating such an impression from the people of that region.
Sources say this exercise has also become necessary for the ruling Congress as it wants to keep the 25 MPs from Seemandhra on its side to be able to pass the Telangana Bill with a simple majority.
This helps the chief minister to buy some more time to stay in office and also continue to voice his opposition to the proposed bifurcation. The Union Home Minister today reiterated that the proposed Bill will be introduced in Parliament’s winter session that begins next month, an indication that the chief minister’s views are not going to change the course.
The chief minister himself has hinted that the state Assembly will be convened next month.
