AP Politics and runup to 2014 General elections

[ramana]

The day after INC announced the Separation decision, KCR was at pains to ensure there is no rancour and urged Andhra folks to stay.

Looks like he had a change of mind(he couldnt have heart!) and made the new remarks.

I had predicted that INC will ensure there are riots and mass killings to ensure the Telugu folks don't get back for at least a couple of generations.

Needs maturity to navigate the chaos.

Prathama karthavayam is to defeat INC.

[Singha]

the next orgy of violence is likely to be assam. bodoland activists are already promising a 1000 hr road blocade if they dont get a separate state asap.

[Hari Seldon]

^I'm in favor of a Bodoland state. They'll not do an AASU/AGP and get talked into any kind of IMDT nonsense. They'll drive out BD illegals by all means necessary .... and with plausible deniability.

[Muppalla]

The day after INC announced the Separation decision, KCR was at pains to ensure there is no rancour and urged Andhra folks to stay.

Looks like he had a change of mind(he couldnt have heart!) and made the new remarks.

I had predicted that INC will ensure there are riots and mass killings to ensure the Telugu folks don't get back for at least a couple of generations.

Needs maturity to navigate the chaos.

Prathama karthavayam is to defeat INC.

Congress will exit. I am convinced. Also read Ashok Malik's article today.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/ ... gress.html

The party won 33 of Andhra Pradesh’s 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2009. In the normal course, it is facing a heavy defeat in 2014. Does it believe it can force the TRS to merge with it, claim credit for fulfilling Telangana aspiration, sweep a potential Rayala Telangana’s 21 seats and cut its losses even if it is wiped out in the rest of the old Andhra Pradesh? This is not politics. It is delusion

The kujli of Rayala T is not over. By the way the fall of Nehru/Indira/Rajiv's statues started here. I do not know why this kujli for congress. I am convinced that there is nothing yet for Telangana and adding these two districts is neither liked by T not by R.

I don't go by the religious bs (both EJ and M). however, there is a serious vengeful attack going on the community. INC has seen their door and they are not coming back. They are going down with a vengeance of "I will screw you before I go". The way Brits created Pakistan, Bangladesh and left the room for Junagadh, Hyd until Patel took the mantle, INC is creating this mayhyem.

KCR's statement looks very foolish but that is definitely not his. Somone is manipulating him. In my view, the announcement did not give the expected result. They thought that there will be emotional breakdown and parties like TDP and YSRC will become breathless. Instead both leaders welcomed T but asked their folks in seemandra to use all the anger against not having clarity. People immediately jumped to 4l crore capital, money, split of revenue etc. The focus shifted to batwaari and that has killed the purpose.

On top of the as a bonus even late Pt Nehru is falling down in all towns. Now villages, town are having public kitchens and are all on roads. The images are impressive.

[ramana]

I recall during 1969 time frame the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Chikkadpalli chowrastha was crashed into by a 'drunk' lorry driver and never replaced.

[Theo_Fidel]

Theo, there is no competition with anyone, only an aspiration for better lives. There is nothing wrong with T soil. If water is available, you can comfortably grow three crops. Though agriculture's contribution to GDP is less and decreasing, the number of people dependent on it still very high. Without increasing the purchasing power of these people, the region as a whole will remain backward. Water is needed for industries too, not only agriculture.

Yes, as I said long term. Certainly crops can be grown. People need a livelihood. For unit of water and other input however productivity will be very low, meaning earning will be low and hence wages will be low. For instance there is not a single district in Telangana that produces rice at a productivity above 1 ton per acre. I don't think they realize it but yes definitely they are in competition with delta areas. Delta areas are able to be very profitable at government rates, while the marginal areas cause farmer suicides. This dynamic will not change.

I don't agree that there is nothing wrong with highland soil. I have seen assays showing the poor organic content and very poor micro-nutrient ratios in the Hubli Dharwad area. It is a challenging environment to try and grow crops at competitively productive level. Certainly a few are able to pull it off, but the question can you build a productive state on that base. IMHO economically it will be a challenge.

Definitely industry could be an option or high intensive hydroponic agriculture, with water this could become the killer proposition. With central location, Telangana could become the vegetable capital of India. Needs high skill and high education and capital investment. The open cheap land could be a major advantage. Could build large industrial estates. State has lots of coal, so power supply should be good.

Above all it has Hyderabad, should focus on developing it, even though the strain is going to show of financing such a massive city all by itself. Maintenance and investment required will be big ticket items. Take a look at what happened to Kolkata or even Chennai when the state was truncated. IIRC greater Hyderabad already has 10+ million population. This means 25% and rising chunk of the state population will be in Hyderabad. This could easily become an example of a city capturing a state.

[member_27444]

I was waiting for some to talk about the " The Big Elephant in The Room"
Let me call Spade a spade.

There is 20% genuine grievance and the rest is 80% power struggle between seema Andhra Kammas and the telengana Reddy, Gowds, Munnur Kapus with other splinter BC and STs

That's all to it it's a proxy war, now wait and see the proxy war of cine stars who are predominantly from Krishna Districts, mostly Kammas few other castes everybody else like Rajus Naidus exceptin chiranjivi and allu ramilngaiah, even SVR was suppressed for he was a Kapu as well, he went to Tamil cine field and prospered later in telugu, kong ars Jaggiah was also a Kapu who could never make it


I Was traveling from Tallahassee yesterday my neighbor in the flight gave the above input , he was from cuddapah

[RamaY]

I think KCR is realizing the trap he is walking into.

Doggy Raja says that the state employees will have an option to stay back in T or go to AP. there is a fair chance that near 90% of them will prefer to stay back in hyderabad for they built homes there, have kids going to schools and so on.

Imagine if all the Andhra employees stay back in T-state. That means there is hardly any new job available for t-people for some time. The OU hostel unemployed will skin KCR Alive if he doesn't give them jobs in the first couple of years of T-state formation.

That is why he is saying ANdhra employees must go back. This is being understood as him asking all Andhras to go back, because once the demand gets to implementation it will be a slippery slope, because some politicians (yes there are such pakis) who promised fringe elements that they can take over the houses and apartments that Andhras will leave behind.

You reap what you sow.

[ShyamSP]

^^^

This is what I was alluding in my post 2 days ago. I didn't expect they show their card so soon. T leaders have those promises to fulfill. Now they are giving clues to Osmania junk to come outside the campus as whole Hyderbad is now their campus

http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... 6#p1490146

For looters, it is no big deal, they had paper value, say 100 crores, it might be 90 crores. They are less likely to sell in any of the prime areas where industries/airports/tech parks are there.

For ordinary folks it may be tough as they have to compete with new T-ordinary folks. T leaders promised many *impossible* things to ordinary folks and they can direct ire at other ordinary folks with them being in control in Hyderabad. Many relatively well-off non-T folks have option to "buy" the security service. Poor non-T will have to use their own muscle to survive.

[Muppalla]

^^^
What do you think? Did it backfire but this announcement can be given a brutal death but not a reverse like in 2009. But if it backfires, India can have a Deepavali and INC will be over decisively.

[RamaY]

^ Muppala garu,

I think KCR is not getting the deal he is expecting. Nothing else. Congress wants him to merge in lines of Chiranjivi (I think he had more MLAs than KCR) and settle with one Central minister (if he wins next elections, and I have a feeling that congress will make sure that doesn't happen like D. Srinivas) and at the most one minister in state.

KCR wants much more than that. I think he must be asking for T-CM, 1 central minister and 1 RS membership at the minimum plus cash.

If you read telugu papers -
- Danam Nagender is saying no UT for Hyd. This guy earlier wanted UT or separate Hyderabad state.
- Chiranjeevi is talking about permanent UT for Hyd.
- Owaisi is asking for T-state
- Andhra ministers say they are going to fight for Andhra interests by sitting in ministry

Everyone wants a safe seat in upcoming elections.

This is where NM can cash in, if he makes right calls.

[vina]

Per today's TOI(let), there is fierce jockeying on where the capital for Seemandhra should come up. The Reddys are pressing for Kurnool, Tirupati or Ongol and are dead against Vijaywada or any place between Guntur and Eluru , because the Krishna-Godavari delta is the stronghold of Khammas.

The Reddys simply cannot seem to stomach the sudden "billions" the Khamma landholders would reap if the capital comes up there per TOI (let).

Nice onree na ? Like what I said earlier, the fight over Hyd is purely over political cover for the economic interests and shad deals of the Coastal elites in Hyd.

Well, if the capital does come up in Andhra , I guess we can see a reddymade (poor pun on readymade I admit) property boom like the Reddymade properties in the bulk of Bangalore like Sarjapur/ORR etc (towards the east and north and south)

[chetak]

^I'm in favor of a Bodoland state. They'll not do an AASU/AGP and get talked into any kind of IMDT nonsense. They'll drive out BD illegals by all means necessary .... and with plausible deniability.

Like cockroaches after spraying of insectide, they will find their way to the rest of India.

[Virupaksha]

When a state is divided, the employees of the state have to be divided. Doesnt costa-seema, need a chief secretary? Wouldnt it need a revenue department, a welfare dept, high court, ? Where would the senior level employees or judges come from? from the sky or would they be recruited tomorrow? They will have to come from the employees working in senior positions in hyderabad who are at the most one rung below presently.

If enough employees come will willingly, all well and good. But if enough dont come, how will the coasta-seema admin run? If not some amount of stick and carrot will have to be used. If stick has to be used, would it work better for someone who has his base in nellore or one in warangal.

Oh! there will not be much recruitment in telangana even in KCR's dreams. For every 5-10 employees who will leave for the coasta-seema admin, only 1 or so at the max will get recruited. Expect many employees who go for coasta-seema to get an out of turn promotion, telangana employees will get nothing.

Be realistic, the complete admin of hyderabad will have to be duplicated in costa-seema. It will require a huge number of employees now stationed in hyderabad.


Oh even in hyderabad, except for the HQ, GO 610(only locals of the particular area can be employed) has been followed since a long long time. So for the telanganites dreaming of huge number of jobs they are already getting them.

[SriKumar]

If enough employees come will willingly, all well and good. But if enough dont come, how will the coasta-seema admin run? If not some amount of stick and carrot will have to be used. If stick has to be used, would it work better for someone who has his base in nellore or one in warangal.

Yes, the thought is logical...and it is mentioned in the quote from KCR itself. It is a little surprising that KCR is so concerned about the efficient running of administration for the costa people. I am surprised that it is even in his thoughts at this early stage, just 2 days after T is declared. Perhaps he's trying to do his coasta brothers a favor? On a related note, there is a difference between saying 'coasta administration needs experienced employees' and people (=govt. employees) 'have no option' but to leave. Also, note that he mentions 'jago bhago' in the context of 'we never raised it'. If they never raised it, why even mention it now after an official bifurcation has taken place. Generally political leaders have to be careful about what they say, especially so in politically unstable situations...and it is fair to assume that KCR's comments were considered comments and not off-the-cuff.

[Yagnasri]

today all "non local" employees are not allowed into Secretariat of AP in Hyd as TRS leaders said that the building is said to be "theirs" and non locals are not allowed. Police also asked them to go. Entire NGOs etc including females are made to go away. TRS will now has to do all these actions line with their "cut the tongue" and "not allow people to come back from their festival visits" threats. I expect lot of violence both physical and verbal both in short term and long term. If T is created then it would be better for all not locals to leave Hyderabad and other T areas for good. This would be better for them. Please do not expect any protection from any Government that may be formed in Telangana state.

I may sound brutal but the basis for T agitation is lies on exploitation and not taking responsibility. The "victims" now has not of imaginary grievances and the nothing positive or great going to come if any division happens. The anger will be then channeled on the "non locals".

We all know that despots need a minority to blame for their failures. "non locals" living in T areas will be that.

Few notice now that both Nagarjuna sagar and Srisailam Dams may be lost for costal delta areas and Polavaram will not be built. So water will be a serious problem very soon.

[devesh]

one of the reasons why the Seemandhra is so dead set against division is that Telangana acts like a buffer which stops the power struggles within the Kosta elites. Left to their own devices, the Kamma and Reddy rivalry will become the be-all and end-all of Seemandhra. those 2 communities will run rings around everybody else and the entire political scene will become just about them and their ambitions.

this is what the common SA folks fear. those who don't have political power, or those who are not big land-owners. the vast commoner masses can see what it means to become pawns in a power struggle. this is why they are so vehemently opposed.

[devesh]

Few notice now that both Nagarjuna sagar and Srisailam Dams may be lost for costal delta areas and Polavaram will not be built. So water will be a serious problem very soon.

no, it will not be. Kosta will never have a water problem. every drop of Krishna and Godavari water naturally flows into the Delta. it's called gravity, sir. from higher region to lower region. Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam are like stones in a vast river. they cannot stop the natural flow.

[devesh]

Devesh garu,

What did KCR say, links please?

the link posted by ramana ji. I didn't want to be accused of "following" anybody, so did not quote.

[Yagnasri]

If there is no problem then why are AP was so much worried about Almutti Dam in Karnataka and why there is so much concern about the dams by Maharastra on Godavari and AP went to Supreme Court? The coastal people will not have any control and has no chance do anything on both Krishna an Godavari from now onward.

[Vayutuvan]

I am surprised that it is even in his thoughts at this early stage, just 2 days after T is declared. Perhaps he's trying to do his coasta brothers a favor?

Looks like it is a tit for tat for SA's propaganda of T is going to fail on its own as there is nobody to lead nor enough literate edumacated people - all madrasss education only. By staying together they wanted to do T bros a favor too. Not that I like either party's argument, but offering a possible explanation.

[Manish_Sharma]

Is this speaker Shri Raja Singh an Andhraite?

^ So maybe we are hearing the first padchaaps of Hindu Bharat's resurgence from Andhra Pradesh as predicted by Brihaspati ji !

I don't think so. the way things are going, especially with KCR once again talking about "sending people back", the reverse might be happening. the seeds of long-term surrender to the proselytizers.

INC is whispering in his ears. and he is following the tunes faithfully.

somebody needs to rein him in. BJP is a good candidate. I think they need to come to power at the earliest. if only to end once and for all, his family's involvement in politics. him, his son, his daughter, the whole damned family.

So just wishful thinking on my part.

[RamaY]

This is the arena of politics so self-interests rule.

Irrespective of what one thinks Telangana state is a reality. All this noise, IMO, is to ensure that Andhra Pradesh gets proper share in resources and package for capital. Everything else is maya.

Now, irrespective of what one thinks the state formation process will happen under the new central government only (due in 10 months). My guess is that the congress contractor/RE-leaders are staying put only because they are hopeful of Rs5000-10000 worth of contracts per MP only in Seemandhra.

This is where BJP need to come heavily. If it comes to power it should ensure that it will develop its own set of RE/Contractor networks who develop 50-100K assured vote bank each. Let us see how it plays.

Vinaji,

So cute to see you shed crocodile tears. Don't you belong to the school of thought that says "economy first" and national territorial, cultural and civilizational integrity are not that important? Then why these crocodile tears that all netas are looking after their "economic" self interests only, damn everything else including social integrity?

[Muppalla]

Few notice now that both Nagarjuna sagar and Srisailam Dams may be lost for costal delta areas and Polavaram will not be built. So water will be a serious problem very soon.

no, it will not be. Kosta will never have a water problem. every drop of Krishna and Godavari water naturally flows into the Delta. it's called gravity, sir. from higher region to lower region. Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam are like stones in a vast river. they cannot stop the natural flow.

+100. Whatever you do there is no way in the world you can stop the water in Delta even after submerging several villages.

[Muppalla]

If there is no problem then why are AP was so much worried about Almutti Dam in Karnataka and why there is so much concern about the dams by Maharastra on Godavari and AP went to Supreme Court? The coastal people will not have any control and has no chance do anything on both Krishna an Godavari from now onward.

Fear mongering and spin statistics and it is all to take more than what you already have. Even before Maha and KA jumped into bandwagon, water resource based projects are developed in AP.

Another thing is no one is making the development difference between three states of erstwhile Nizam. The part in AP is way ahead of other two regions. But now KA portion is catching up.

[krisna]

Yamar R ,
Vina writes paragraphs after paragraphs on anyone and anything irrespective of their contributions.
But writes only one word or one liners on his "favorites" despite their destructive tendencies for == onlee.

[Muppalla]

This is the arena of politics so self-interests rule.

Irrespective of what one thinks Telangana state is a reality. All this noise, IMO, is to ensure that Andhra Pradesh gets proper share in resources and package for capital. Everything else is maya.

Now, irrespective of what one thinks the state formation process will happen under the new central government only (due in 10 months). My guess is that the congress contractor/RE-leaders are staying put only because they are hopeful of Rs5000-10000 worth of contracts per MP only in Seemandhra.

This is where BJP need to come heavily. If it comes to power it should ensure that it will develop its own set of RE/Contractor networks who develop 50-100K assured vote bank each. Let us see how it plays.

Vinaji,

So cute to see you shed crocodile tears. Don't you belong to the school of thought that says "economy first" and national territorial, cultural and civilizational integrity are not that important? Then why these crocodile tears that all netas are looking after their "economic" self interests only, damn everything else including social integrity?

This state division is going to invite a lot of investment and also a lot of central funds. India's backward regions and states can cry rivers but that is what will happen to douse the fires.

[RamaY]

^ +1 Muppala garu.

Ongole has 20-30K acres of Govt land. It will be more than sufficient to build a beautiful city that can cater 2-3million people with world class amenities. If GoAP allocates this land to developers block-wise and ask them to price the apartments/offices based on construction alone, the city will get populated within 5 years (2-3 years to develop infra and 2 years for building works). Water supply from Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar reservoirs must be assigned to the new capital unconditionally (20 TMC each). They should also work towards a coastal canal that goes parallel to coastal high way connecting Krishna and Penneru Rivers to divert excess waters during monsoon.

With some vision the Andhra Pradesh can be a wealthy and successful state, while Telangana can use Hyderabad to develop its poorer regions.

After all we are all telugus. Why should we feel bad if hyderabad money is used for development of Adilabad and Nalgonda districts, instead of Srikakulam or anantapur districts?

[Vayutuvan]

GoLT - Govt. of lucky/luser Telangana. Lucky for tites but kopam people want to portray it as the latter. dEkhA jAyega.

[Yagnasri]

but unfortunately RamaY sir some of us paid taxes which went into making of todays Hyd and they are being kickout of the same so that INC can loot the nation for 5 more years. Almost 5 Cr people are being called all kind of vulger things for many years on each and ever platform and now all the insults are having a officials approval of the nation. You will forgive me for saying "how do you feel if you are called all these things for so many years and in the end the same is made legitimate for election purpose. Telugu people unity and brotherhood was forgotten when insults and threats are hurled at crores of people and now suddenly the same is being talked to get our approval??? People who are not residing in AP may not have real feeling of the paid because you have not heard these things day after day for many years but those who have heard these things will not accept this division.

By the way can you justify one set of people needing 4 th capital in 60 years when being losing every captial after being majority at every one of them??? For the first time the Capital is being forcefully taken away from 5 Cr people against their serious objections for no valid or logical reason and you want to justify that because the people doing this are also Telugu people???

By the way what do you say to the female employees who are not allowed in to the AP Secretariat today baause the building belongs to the Telangana and they are not allowed and police also asking them to go away??? Telugu brotherhood???

[Muppalla]

Per today's TOI(let), there is fierce jockeying on where the capital for Seemandhra should come up. The Reddys are pressing for Kurnool, Tirupati or Ongol and are dead against Vijaywada or any place between Guntur and Eluru , because the Krishna-Godavari delta is the stronghold of Khammas.

The Reddys simply cannot seem to stomach the sudden "billions" the Khamma landholders would reap if the capital comes up there per TOI (let).

Nice onree na ? Like what I said earlier, the fight over Hyd is purely over political cover for the economic interests and shad deals of the Coastal elites in Hyd.

Well, if the capital does come up in Andhra , I guess we can see a reddymade (poor pun on readymade I admit) property boom like the Reddymade properties in the bulk of Bangalore like Sarjapur/ORR etc (towards the east and north and south)

Just half knowledge.

Fissures between Kammas and Reddys are there but that is not the driver. No one in the state other than Krishna/Guntur kammas (Kammas are there in several districts) will like the Capital between Guntur and Eluru regions. This includes economists and planners. Kammas for these districts does have clout. That region is so congested that you will have to construct only in the air and not on the ground. Another thing is that the property there is in multiple crores even a decade ago. Even is a united AP, the price of land in that stretch is always expensive than even Hyderabad. Another important factor is if you are coming from south and once you enter outskirts of Guntur (the hot dust bowl) and all the way until Vizag it is all very fertile land. All the cities there are purely markets of produce and everything else is ancillary and just added economic activity. If you want to just create a new city artificially and attract newer economy then it has to be either south of Guntur (Ongole , Anantapur, Chitoor, Kurnool districts) or Vizag and beyond. All this Reddy/Kamma is a maya. Once you decide on a city, the investments are done by everyone.

I personally do not like Guntur and Prakasam(Ongole) (Jagan's adda) as it is the highest EJ district. In fact if you remove these districts from statistics, the total EJ population falls down to less than 9% in Costal AP and Rayalaseema together. (note: nothing against religion but the junk here is very motivated.) I don't know, alternatively it may be a good idea to occupy these lands and construct new city for everyone.

The readymade capital city is Vizag. It is in eastern Ghats, less agriculture but very green and beautiful. The corporation is expanded to Anakapally and Bhimili ( the most beautiful beaches in entire India. Better than even Goa.) Historical Hindu shrines (some are unknown but has great history) and wide roads. Easy to construct anything and can avoid unnecessary congestion. Potential to be a top class huge city. It already have Wipro, Infosys type IT industry. They have plans (already in later stage) to construct ORR like in Hyderabad. Cosmopolian in nature. Pretty good road, rail network too. Capital and industry can stay together and you don't need to build it ground up.

If they choose Vizag, then definitely Hyderabad can be deflated as domestic (state and national) and international investors will have the same kind of interest. Great port and naval establishments. You will have a kind of Mumbai on the east.

[Dasari]

^ +1 Muppala garu.

Ongole has 20-30K acres of Govt land. It will be more than sufficient to build a beautiful city that can cater 2-3million people with world class amenities. If GoAP allocates this land to developers block-wise and ask them to price the apartments/offices based on construction alone, the city will get populated within 5 years (2-3 years to develop infra and 2 years for building works). Water supply from Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar reservoirs must be assigned to the new capital unconditionally (20 TMC each). They should also work towards a coastal canal that goes parallel to coastal high way connecting Krishna and Penneru Rivers to divert excess waters during monsoon.

With some vision the Andhra Pradesh can be a wealthy and successful state, while Telangana can use Hyderabad to develop its poorer regions.

After all we are all telugus. Why should we feel bad if hyderabad money is used for development of Adilabad and Nalgonda districts, instead of Srikakulam or anantapur districts?

There are lot of places in seemandhra that have more than 30,000 acres of public and (cheap) private land. We can do the same sugar coating for them - given Rs 100,000 crores, a beautiful capital can be built in Vizag-Kakinada, Nellore-Chittor, Cudappah-Karnool,vizag-vizianagaram. 'Ongloe as capital' is the creation of same real estate mafia and crony capitalists that were responsible for Telangana issue in the first place. Let us not reward them with another real estate bonanza, this time in their own backyard. It is pure political dominance of delta area and ceratin caste(s) in the ploitical affairs of AP that was the undoing of Visalandhra. i'm afraid we didn't learn any lessons. As long as this continues, the division of AP will continue.

[chaanakya]

By God so much of caste politics and fissures are there in AP(formerly soon to be) as well, people unnecessarily blame northern states. Such fissures resulting in smaller states, there is something certainly wrong. This way differentiations , which is our strength as well as weakness, will get emphasized for its weakness and demand for many more states would grow stronger.

While Telangana was inevitable there is still some hope that a rational basis for formation of states, not on differentiation but on scientific and geographic basis be formed irrespective of language and caste or creed. Only politicians benefit from accentuating differences.

[nawabs]

one of the reasons why the Seemandhra is so dead set against division is that Telangana acts like a buffer which stops the power struggles within the Kosta elites. Left to their own devices, the Kamma and Reddy rivalry will become the be-all and end-all of Seemandhra. those 2 communities will run rings around everybody else and the entire political scene will become just about them and their ambitions.

New Andhra capital likely along caste lines

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 564055.cms

Top caste leaders from the dominant Reddys and Kammas are active behind-the-scenes trying to strike deals with the Centre on the location of the new capital, three days after the UPA alliance agreed on the formation of a new Telangana state, a highly placed political source told TOI on Friday.

The battle-lines are drawn with Reddy and Kamma politicians - across party lines - trying to outwit each other on the financially lucrative issue of building a new capital.

More than 60 out of 175 MLAs from Seemandhra belong to the Reddy community, whose loathing for the Kammas, who have 24 MLAs from Seemandhra, is well known. The Reddy leaders have thus made it clear they would never agree on a capital anywhere around Vijayawada or Guntur, the much-talked about location for the new Andhra capital, as these are Kamma strongholds.

Vijayawada and Guntur are centrally located with reasonable infrastructure for a capital, but leaders from Reddy-dominant districts want either Tirupati or Kurnool from Rayalaseema or even Ongole from Prakasam as the new capital.

"The central coastal districts of Krishna and Guntur are Kamma districts. The Congress does not want to make Reddys' arch-rivals, the Kammas, prosper," said a top Reddy leader not wanting to be named. The Reddys say that areas surrounding the new capital city will flourish making land owners billionaires.

A day after the bifurcation was announced, owners of commercial spaces in Vijayawada began quoting Rs 50 per sq feet as against Rs 15 per sq feet a week ago.

"The Reddys will never agree on a capital between Guntur and Eluru," said D Subramanian, a senior Social Sciences professor at Acharaya Nagarjuna University.

Sensing trouble, the AP Chamber of Commerce and other merchant bodies, represented by Kammas in Krishna district, have begun lobbying for Vijayawada as capital.

"Vijayawada is certainly more suitable than any other place in Seemandhra," said Malineni Rajaiah, a senior member of the body. Even TDP MLAs from the region are quitting, not just to keep the state united, but to make their demands for the capital in Vijayawada heard, some sources said.

The AP Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Muttavarapu Muralikrishna said they were going to present a comprehensive report to the state and Central governments, detailing the advantages of locating the capital between Vijayawada and Guntur.

He said they would also organize road shows to educate people about the benefits of having capital city close to their location. "Vijayawada-Guntur is strategically ideal," he said. According to business leaders of the region, Vijayawada is well connected by air, road, rail and port, important infrastructure for a capital.

[Dasari]

You can sense from above that there was no talk about anything north of Eluru, almost 300km of coastal corridor. This region is almost non-existent in AP. That is what is blatantly wrong in AP. Reddys and Kammas represent less than 20% of the polpulation, perhaps enjoy more than 90% of the wealh, and they dictate the terms for rest of the state. Devesh was right on mark, when he mentioned that until now Hyderabad acted as buffer to obfuscate these nauseating casteism.

[devesh]

^^^
not just Hyd, but all of Telangana acts as a buffer which keeps the rivalries cooled down. 3.5 crore is a huge demographic and the K-R rivalry in Kosta gets submerged b/c of this geographic and demographic mass. but if Kosta becomes separate state, then the fear among commoners might be that the rivalries will once again come to the forefront and submerge everybody else in that back-and-forth game.
think about even the Justice Party times during Madras Presidency era. it wasn't until the clarion call of "Telugulaku Andhra-desham" was given, that the K's and R's cooled down and got distracted from their perennial quest for dominance over each other. "Telugu vari atma gauravam" was also in the same stream of thought. essentially, it kept the Kosta rivalries in check.

this is what I have always been saying about "ideology". you need something more than caste and clan to keep you grounded and rooted. caste and clan will get you mixed up in fantastic rivalries. but they can never make you an "emperor". you will forever remain a pawn to even greater forces at the national level who know how to pull your strings. you need something within your own region that can submerge the caste/clan and think beyond it. but of course, when I talk about it, all I get are smug taunts about "BJP not even winning a few villages".

f*** BJP. f*** NDA. think about what you want for the future. what you want for your family, your community as a Hindu, and your entire state as a part and parcel of Bharat. BJP is just a vehicle to reach that goal.

but BJP is a good vehicle because they already have a nation-wide network that is rooted in a solid backbone called the RSS.

we should stop thinking that TDP is "good enough" to hold Hindu interests in the region. well, good morning to you all sirs and ladies. the sun is shining and now hopefully the light shines in our eyes too. TDP has not been able to keep the encroachment of EJ's in check. they are, at best, a "status-quo" force. they can never truly take up the cause of the Hindu without any reservations, because their ultimate call is to satisfy the regional urge. and sometimes, it might become necessary to compromise on the "religious" front to satisfy the "regional" front.

ideology is the name of the game. "Telugu vari atma gauravam" was a good starting step.

next question to answer: where and from which source are we getting the "atma gauravam"? when we start exploring that question, that is when we will start thinking about values, specifically about what values to uphold, and what to put down. it is about time we start thinking. even if division happens (which I am still not entirely sure of), we are still telugus. Telugu is the language, so communication between us is not a barrier. if anything, free of that shackle of "you are oppressing me", now we can set aside that issue and work for something greater. I think we can do it. and if division doesn't happen, then it's about damn time to start on the new project; hopefully at least a few people are able to realize why Andhra has become such an easy pawn to manipulate.

[SaiK]

imho, the new capital should be a fresh land.. from absolutely nothing human touched landscape. of course, the sad part is losing the natural environment .. but as long as it is not used for farming or cutting down trees, it should be okay.

[RamaY]

^

I disagree. We already took enough land from nature. We should be able to live with what we have already taken. Destroying 100-150sq.km of forest/natural land will be unfair to the nature.

[gpati]

no, it will not be. Kosta will never have a water problem. every drop of Krishna and Godavari water naturally flows into the Delta. it's called gravity, sir. from higher region to lower region. Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam are like stones in a vast river. they cannot stop the natural flow.

+ Krishna in coastal areas has its own catchment areas. Still there will be water even if a single drop of water is not coming from Sagar or Srisailam.

[Muppalla]

By God so much of caste politics and fissures are there in AP(formerly soon to be) as well, people unnecessarily blame northern states. Such fissures resulting in smaller states, there is something certainly wrong. This way differentiations , which is our strength as well as weakness, will get emphasized for its weakness and demand for many more states would grow stronger.

While Telangana was inevitable there is still some hope that a rational basis for formation of states, not on differentiation but on scientific and geographic basis be formed irrespective of language and caste or creed. Only politicians benefit from accentuating differences.

The only places where caste is not an issues is the places where either islamists or EJists have complete hold. Same places where there is complete takeover by communists. Rest of India has all caste stuff. This thread is a bad choice but caste is not as bad as it sounds out to be. The bad parts can be negated by electoral reforms and genuine judicial reforms.