2009: A bad chapter in Andhra Pradesh's political history!

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: Year 2009 will certainly be a bad chapter in Andhra Pradesh’s political history. And, Year 2010 might well be an annexure to that!
Just one man – a desperate one at that – has scripted such a bad script that the state, which has been the envy of all others in the country over the last few years, is facing probably its worst phase ever.
Happenings in the last one month have clouded over all the events in the last 11 months on the political arena in Andhra Pradesh in the year 2009.
From being envied as a role-model state across the country to the current regional turmoil, it took only a month for Andhra Pradesh to be tagged as the most unfavorable state in more ways than one.
The ongoing strife has also exposed the political vacuum that the state plunged into following the tragic death of a tall leader Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash on September 2.
Year 2009 could have truly belonged to Rajasekhara Reddy, but for his untimely death. It was under his leadership that the Congress successfully retained power in the state and also sent the largest contingent of MPs to the Centre in the general elections in April\May this year.
The state was cruising well on the path of development until his demise caused an upheaval. The state hasn’t really recovered from the tragedy, as the administrative machinery virtually collapsed following one crisis after the other.
The state had weathered many a storm with Rajasekhara Reddy at the helm but under the new dispensation headed by the “experienced” K Rosaiah things seemed to be falling apart.
Rajasekhara Reddy’s death, in a way, became the trigger for one political crisis after the other in the state even as governance became the biggest casualty.
First, there was a hard-pitched campaign for Rajasekhara Reddy’s son and Kadapa MP Jaganmohan Reddy being made the state Chief Minister in place of his father. For about two months, the Congress in the state stood grossly divided on the issue with a majority of the legislators backing Jagan as the successor to his late father. After a lot of dilly-dallying, the Congress high command finally succeeded in containing the rebellion in the party by endorsing the candidature of Rosaiah for the Chief Minister’s post.
Later, the demand for creation of a separate Telangana state, by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh, has become the biggest challenge for the Rosaiah administration to handle this year. It was the war-cry of a man desperately seeking to re-establish his political credentials that has pushed a stable government to the brink.
The resultant political crisis has left the state divided on regional lines while the major political players too find themselves on the edge.
The ruling Congress party stands vertically divided, so is the principal opposition Telugu Desam on the statehood issue. The other main opposition Praja Rajyam has now become virtually non-existent in Telangana with its chief K Chiranjeevi reversing his stand to support a unified state.
The separatist Telangana Rashtra Samiti is fighting a do-or-die battle as a last ditch effort to keep its flag flying.
Year 2009 began in the right earnest as the state headed for a general election. Though the Congress managed to retain power by a bare margin of just 155 seats, the principal opposition TDP made a strong comeback winning 92 seats in the 294-member Assembly. Fighting its first elections after coming into being in August 2008, the PRP of actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi failed to make a mark and was left content with just 18 seats. The separatist TRS too lost clout as it managed only 10 Assembly and just two Lok Sabha seats. The election results clearly established that people of the region endorsed development rather than division (of the state). In the event, the TRS was increasingly losing its relevance and, hence, to ensure its survival, the wily Chandrasekhar Rao once again tried to bring the separation issue back on centre stage by launching a fast-unto-death for Telangana.
That Rajasekhara Reddy was no more alive to counter such a selfish political agenda came in handy for Chandrasekhar Rao and also the separatist elements within the ruling party to exploit the situation and push the state into an unprecedented political crisis.
What, however, shocked everyone was the abrupt decision of the Centre to announce its intention to initiate the process for forming a separate Telangana state even as the Congress failed to spell out its stand on the vexatious issue.
That has opened a Pandora’s Box and put Andhra Pradesh on the boil.