The Telangana Rashtra Samithi’s threat to lay siege to the historic Hyderabad on March 10 appears to be a first step towards the sounding of a death knell for the N Kiran Kumar Reddy government.
A crowd of even one million, let alone ten times the number as claimed by the pro-Telangana Party, storming the precincts of government headquarters and elsewhere will be by no means a small attack.
The thought of the combined might of the opposition TRS, TDP, BJP and others, who are resolved to take wind out of Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy’s sails, is surely giving the jitters to the government.
It would be a testing time for all concerned including the ‘weak’ government which has been confronting many a burning problems from all directions.
The Congress legislators too are dead set to side with the TRS drive as they do not want to lag behind, at least for the sake of the vote bank.
Thus the government is under fire from all quarters, including its own men. Sooner the government reacts, the better for Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy and the people of the state as the frequent bandhs have been throwing life out of gear, tormenting the commoner.
The TRS and NGOs are actually breathing fire.
The Secretariat incident, in which the police allegedly stopped women members of the JAC and acted in a highhanded manner, further aggravated and made the matters worse than before.
The timely intervention of Handlooms Minister P Shankar Rao has come as face saving device for the Chief Minister. However the TPJAC leaders’ humiliation at the Secretariat further hurt the Telangana sentiment.
Time is ripe for Telangana protagonists to lay the city under siege for a day – a bitter taste for Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy who has to come to terms with the opposition leaders on Telangana statehood.
As it is, for the last eight days, the determined TRS and other opposition combine had been dictating terms to the Chair to adjourn the Assembly almost every day without transacting any business.
The Deputy Speaker has been seen to be at the mercy of the opposition.
Not content with putting Mr Nadendla Manohar in the dock, the opposition were coming up with some novel methods to achieve their goal of bifurcation of AP, which the Congress High Command has been putting off on some flimsy grounds.
But their resolve to hoodwink the TRS may not hold water for a long time.
The crucial stage seems to have arrived as the opposition’s groundswell on March 10, if fructified as stipulated, may spell a doom for the ruling clique.
TRS, BJP, TDP and others were on a converging line.
This recalled the imprisonment of anti-Congress stalwarts during Emergency which surprisingly united the anti-Indira forces.
A repeat of 1975-like situation here may prove detrimental to the interests of the Congress.
Will the Congress, led by Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy survive?
As ordained, the Congress Legislators are also going with the mass’ thinking to keep their vote bank safe come what may.
The growing unrest among the students is like fuel adding to the fire. Their upsurge has been going on unabated. Adding to this, the students from the underprivileged classes and the college managements are also a dissatisfied lot.
The government has been pushing the fee reimbursement backlog arrears with each passing year since its inception.
The next academic year in all probability will also see the same situation as the government did not earmark a separate budget for it.
On the other hand, the Kadapa rebel leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy had already launched a hunger strike camp demanding payment of fee. With his brigade, he is sure to take advantage of this situation on March 10.