Telangana and Rayalaseema -- Likely neighbours but unlikely partners

From article reported at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Telangana-Rayalaseema-have-a-common-cause-Analysts/articleshow/5338375.cms:

“Telangana, Rayalaseema have a common cause : Analysts “

Roli Srivastava, TNN 15 December 2009, 05:22am IST

 

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With the logic of being sidelined by Andhra region, forming the backbone of a Telangana-Rayalaseema merger, why can it never become a reality? "Rayalaseema leaders who have played a prominent role in state politics in the last 40 years have made this possibility very difficult,'' says social scientist C Ramachandraiah, who points out that these leaders never aligned with those from Telangana. Worse, they only alienated them.

"The state's first chief minister N Sanjeeva Reddy was a signatory to the Gentleman's Agreement which had a provision that if the CM was from one region a deputy CM would be appointed from another region,'' he says, adding that while Reddy, who hailed from Rayalaseema became CM, he showed no interest in appointing a deputy CM from Telangana. "A deputy CM from Telangana would be an irritating sixth finger,'' Reddy had reportedly said.

The perceptions created by these leaders is the biggest hurdle. The chief ministers of the last decade, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, both hailing from Rayalaseema, only widened the gap between the two regions, with those from Telangana ruing the diversion of funds by YSR towards Rayalaseema. "Telangana people mistake that YSR invested a lot in Rayalaseema. He was only investing in Kadapa,'' HRF's Chandrasekhar says.

The bigger roadblock would be convincing Telangana supporters. While Rayalaseema region residents are agreeable to merging with Telangana, those from the T area say a stern "No''. The faction-ridden region identity of Rayalaseema works against it being seen as an acceptable portion a new T state would want. "We have never had a common culture. There is no feeling of oneness or even a sense of belonging (to the other region). Besides Rayalaseema is ridden with factionalism and Telangana doesn't have that,'' explains professor S Simhadri of Osmania University.