Telangana: Nation Needs Unity, Not Division!

Jayalalitha says: “Seems days of single party rule are over”. She of course is talking about the power of regional parties. By definition, the focus of these parties is very narrow and they tend to overlook the national interests. Powerful regional parties empower local leaders who are very often selfish demagogues. Like we saw, the Communist party with 60+ MPs in UPA-I essentially held the nation hostage. History of the last twenty years in Indian politics is rife with such examples. Never has a regional party been good for the nation and seldom for people they claim to champion. They are a testament to a narrow focus of the voters.

I should be enjoying the tight spot Congress is in vis a vis Telangana. However, I am one of the India first kind of people. I think that Telangana is a very bad idea. Just like Jharkhand and Chattisgarh. My reasons are as follows:

1. Despite of common language and quite similar culture, people of the so called Telangana region and the Andhra region have not been able to reconcile on issues like water sharing and view the revenue disbursement with suspicion. I dare say that such issues are going to become less contentious after the states are formed or at the time of division. The four major southern states are still not on the same page with water sharing.

2. Fight over Hyderabad is going to be a tough one. Is it going to become another Chandigarh? What about the places where a lot of central money on infrastructure has been spent. Who gets those? Geography is not a very good way to settle this issue. When money was spent on developing such areas, it was done with the entire state and the nation in mind. Being a free democratic nation, people should move to economic zones rather than move the boundary of the economic zones closer to their homes by playing petty politics.

3. Two states means twice the number of ministers and bureaucrats. This essentially means multiple fold increase in corruption.

4. Proposed state of Telangana will have a very high percentage of Muslims. Looking at J&K and Kerala, that is a recipe for disaster.

5. What has division done to the states of Jharkhand and Chattisgarh? Instant prosperity? Far from it. Jharkhand was stuck with Shibu Soren until the BJP leadership took over the state and started it on the right path. Chattisgarh was stuck with the corrupt Ajit Jogi regime until Raman Singh from the BJP took over. Therefore, an independent state is no guarantee for success. Choosing the right leadership is.

6. As we have seen from other cases, people of the divided states do not benefit. Politicians who do not amount to much in the unified state stand to gain in the divided state. People of the proposed state of Telangana need to see and verify before they succumb to the rhetoric of ill meaning politicians.

At a time when our nation is facing terrorism, insurgencies, inept central leadership and extreme corruption, we need to be looking at the big picture rather than obsessing over resolvable differences. We need to find ways to unite rather than divide. By standing firm and united against the enemies of the motherland, we will be able to defeat all our enemies, external and internal. By dividing, all we do is strengthen the hands of demagogues and terrorists.