VZCZCXRO5094
PP RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHNEH #0137/01 3581143
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 241143Z DEC 09
FM AMCONSUL HYDERABAD
TO RUEHNEH/AMCONSUL HYDERABAD PRIORITY 0237
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
INFO RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHMFIUU/USCENTCOM CCJ5 - PERSONAL FOR MACDILL AFB FL
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0023
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0016
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0024
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0023
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0023
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0023
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0023
RUEHVI/AMEMBASSY VIENNA 0007

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HYDERABAD 000137 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PINR KDEM IN
SUBJECT: TELANGANA - THE STATEHOOD TRAP 
 
REF: REFERENCES: A) NEW DELHI 2472, B) HYDERABAD 121, C) HYDERABAD 124 
 
HYDERABAD 00000137  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The escalating tensions in Andhra Pradesh (AP) 
over the future status of Telangana led to acts of violence 
overnight as buses were torched and rail transport halted. 
Authorities imposed a ban on public meetings until New Year's 
Day.  The December 11 announcement of the center's support for 
the creation of the new state led to sustained public protests 
and sporadic violence and a period of backroom political 
maneuvering and public posturing by leaders of both the 
pro-statehood and anti-statehood camps followed.  On December 
23, GOI Home Minister P. Chidambaram made a second statement 
declaring that the situation had `altered' and needed further 
review. Proponents of statehood declared this a betrayal and 
called for 48-hour `bandh' (strike) throughout the region. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
Another 48-Hour Bandh Disrupts Andhra Pradesh 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Starting on the evening of December 23, demonstrations 
occurred in various areas of Hyderabad and throughout Telangana. 
 The regional transportation system was again targeted by 
protests disrupting bus and rail lines.  While media reports of 
the ensuing violence indicate that as many as 30 buses were 
burnt and government property was vandalized, the damage to 
private property was minimal.  To counter the expected 
disturbances, local law enforcement doubled the police presence 
in the city to 18,000 personnel and deployed the paramilitary 
Rapid Action Forces to sensitive areas throughout Telangana. 
The state also issued a ban on all gatherings of more than four 
people until January 1, 2010.  Against this background, the 
local police provided international hi-tech companies with 
assurances that any disturbances around Osmania University - on 
the other side of the city - would not adversely impact their 
ability to continue operations or the movement of people to and 
from their place of employment. 
 
 
Another Violent Reaction to the Home Minister 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) On December 23 GOI Home Minister Chidambaram made a 
statement on Telangana statehood (his second) which noted that 
the `situation in Andhra has altered' and asserted the `need to 
hold wide-ranging consultations with all political parties in 
the state.'  This statement prompted Telangana Rashtra Samithi 
(TRS) leader K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), whose hunger strike 
provided the initial spark for the current crisis, to hold a 
press conference later that day characterizing the Home 
Minister's latest statement as a `betrayal of the Telangana 
cause' since `no time-frame was fixed for the wide-ranging 
consultations.'  KCR then went on to threaten major civil unrest 
if the Center backed down on its pledge and called for a 48-hour 
`bandh' starting December 24 in conjunction with the Bharatiya 
Janata Party (BJP) and other parties espousing statehood. [NOTE: 
That the press conference was held in the residence of Jana 
Reddy, former AP Home Minister under Congress Chief Minister YSR 
Reddy, highlights the internal divisions in the state party on 
this issue. END NOTE] Meanwhile, fourteen Congress MPs from the 
Telangana region huddled in New Delhi, threatening to resign. 
 
 
Chidambaram's First Statement 
----------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Faced with escalating protests and a prominent politician 
on an indefinite hunger strike, Chidambaram made a `midnight' 
announcement on December 11 that the process of carving the 
Telangana region out of AP to form a separate state (reftel A) 
would start. This was met first by sporadic civil unrest (reftel 
B) and subsequently by a wave of Members of the Legislative 
Assembly (MLA) resigning en masse from the State Assembly 
(reftel C).  On December 15 Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 
and other senior Congress party leaders called for calm and 
promised consultations and a `go slow' approach.  This reduced 
 
HYDERABAD 00000137  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
tension in the state's other regions - Coastal Andhra and 
Rayalaseema - as protests wound down to watch and wait.  On 
December 14, the AP Speaker of the House adjourned the state 
legislature `sine die' and effectively postponed the need to 
decide whether to accept the tendered resignations indefinitely. 
 
 
 
Calm in the Eye of the Storm 
---------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Over the ensuing week the political maneuvering 
continued unabated, though fairly calmly. Congress MLAs from 
both `Pro-Telangana' (statehood) and `United Andhra' 
(anti-statehood) camps converged on New Delhi to lobby the 
senior Congress leadership.  Both sides heard coordinated 
statements that a decision would be taken only after consensus 
was reached, but neither group appeared open to conciliatory 
action. Speculation regarding the future status of Hyderabad 
seemed ever present as politicians from all three of the state's 
regions staked a claim to AP's capital city and commercial 
center.  It quickly became the central point of contention and 
KCR declared on December 21 that `If anyone says a word that 
Hyderabad is not part of Telangana, we will cut out their 
tongues.' 
 
¶6. (SBU) AP regional opposition parties also faced splits in 
their ranks and quickly backtracked from their earlier support 
of a separate state for Telangana.  Even as he criticized the 
Congress leadership for making a hasty decision without 
consulting the people of the state, Telugu Desam Party leader N. 
Chandrababu Naidu cautiously adopted a position mirroring the 
Congress position.  Praja Rajyam Party leader K. Chiranjeevi 
made a more decisive break with his party's election stance and 
openly declared his opposition to dividing the state.  The 
famous actor then announced that he also would tender his 
resignation to the State Assembly. 
 
¶7. (SBU) As the backroom maneuvering continued, the Congress MP 
from Vijayawada Rajagopal Lagadapati submitted his resignation 
to the Lok Sabha Speaker.  He then sought to replicate KCR's 
success and declared his own indefinite fast in support of a 
unified state.  Like KCR, Rajagopal was taken into police 
custody outside of Hyderabad and transported to his home 
district.  On December 20, Mr. Rajagopal escaped from the 
Government Hospital in Vijayawada only to resurface the next day 
at the Nizam Institute of Sciences (NIMS) in Hyderabad - the 
same place KCR stayed during his fasting.  Tensions began to 
rise as Pro-Telangana supporters rallied to protest the presence 
in Hyderabad of a prominent proponent of a unified state. 
 
 
How to Avoid Commitment and Alienate Supporters 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶8. (SBU) COMMENT: Home Minister Chidambaram's December 23 
statement went either too far or not far enough, depending upon 
the audience.  Many local observers took it to mean that the 
Congress leadership has decided not to decide and instead has 
put the issue on a backburner.  With Telangana's prospects for 
separate statehood unresolved, the simmering unrest is likely to 
continue.  Meanwhile the perception grows that the Congress 
leadership is unable to unify and control its members, thus 
providing ammunition to rival parties throughout the state and 
the country and also to factions within the party.  Still, a 
quick decision by Congress to end this dance in the current 
environment would only precipitate action by whichever of the 
two camps feels aggrieved by the outcome. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Congress has painted itself into a corner. The party 
would like nothing better than a return to the dominant position 
they enjoyed under recently deceased AP Chief Minister YSR 
Reddy.  However, with no easy way to put the statehood genie 
back in the bottle, the leadership will play for time and hope 
that people tire of the disruptions to their daily lives before 
 
HYDERABAD 00000137  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
unequivocal movement towards statehood is required - a risky 
strategy given the escalating rhetoric, protests, and violence 
of the last few weeks.  END COMMENT. 
LEONI