Cong, TDP split down the middle over Telangana

New Delhi: The Srikrishna Committee formed in February 2010 to look into the demand for statehood for Telangana, on Thursday, submitted its report to the Home Minister P Chidambaram.

The report will now be discussed with Andhra Pradesh's political actors before it's revealed on the public stage.

After receiving the two-volume report Chidambaram said that the Srikrishna committee recommendations on Telangana will be discussed with the political parties and added that it will be made public on January 6, 2011.

The report itself is believed to have listed out several options but to build a consensus on anyone of them could be easier said than done. Each of the parties in Andhra Pradesh has already taken their political line.

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) said it will stop nothing short of a separate state, an argument supported by the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP).

Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) and former Congress leader Jagan Mohan Reddy are for a unified Andhra Pradesh.

The two mains forces in the state, the ruling Congress and the Opposition TDP are split down the middle between leader from Telangana and other parts of the state.

For the moment the TRS which started the Telangana agitation in 2009 said it's willing to wait but the question is for how long.

"They will need some time to study it but we are very hopeful and optimistic that Central government will consider our demand, " said key Telangana leader K Chandrasekhar Rao's son K Taraka Rama Rao.

A reminder, perhaps that Telangana remains a difficult question for the Congress party - it swept the state in 2009 with 33 Members of Parliament, 12 from Telangana and 21 from the other parts. And in less than two years is worried of loosing it all. It's also keenly aware that what it does on this issue would determine this man's political strategy.

So after the wait for December 31, it's now a wait for January 6. But will the process of consultation help take a step forward in an issue that's both emotive and contentious issue. The Congress, meanwhile would continue weigh the political fallout both internally and externally.