AC guns for bill in Parliament, sends Sri Krishna panel for a toss

The Telangana JAC, which is preparing the ground for en-masse resignations by Telangana legislators on Saturday, has quickly changed its tack on the Sri Krishna committee and its terms of reference.

Addressing the media after a meeting with his partners in JAC, its convenor Prof Kodanda Ram minced no words about their displeasure on the designated task ahead for Sri Krishna Committee. He said the JAC waited this long hoping that the Centre would take genuine steps to resolve the Telangana issue. But now convinced that they were left high and dry once again, they would press for a bill to be introduced in Parliament, he said.

This sudden, ‘we-won’t-listen-to-you’ attitude flaunted by TRS chief KCR and the Telangana JAC appears to be aimed at delivering a powerful blow to the UPA to mount further pressure for an earlier decision. The terms of reference announced by the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday were never expected to be any different. This was the mood ever since Chidambaram made the proposal and later constituted the committee.

If the JAC pushes ahead strongly for a bill in Parliament, it would only make the Sri Krishna committee irrelevant. In other words, it simply nullifies the UPA efforts to solve the tough Telangana issue and brings it back to square one. If it happens this way, then it would be another big test for the seasoned UPA think-tank to salvage the Sri Krishna committee and put the whole process firmly back on rails.