India Government Faces Criticism Over Telangana

The political stalemate over the creation of a new southern Indian state deepened and the national government faced mounting criticism for its hasty decision to carve a separate state from Andhra Pradesh.

The crisis was sparked by the hunger strike of K. Chandrashekar Rao, who heads the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, a political party dedicated to the creation of the state of Telangana from what is now Andhra Pradesh. The national government a week ago acceded to his demands, saying a resolution to form the new state would be introduced in the local assembly, though it declined to provide a timeframe.

The state, one of India's largest, has erupted since. In all, 146 of the state's 294 legislators have submitted their resignations. After the speaker of the assembly declined to accept them, local legislators pressed the issue Tuesday, demanding that they be allowed to resign.

The Congress party, which also rules the national government in New Delhi, holds 156 of the total seats, a majority. But even though the party's leaders in the capital supported the push for Telangana, 80 of the party's Andhra Pradesh assembly members have asked to resign, a move that would lead to the state government's collapse.

In addition, 50 legislators of the opposition Telugu Desam Party want to resign and met with speaker N. Kiran Kumar Reddy Tuesday. "The speaker will consult legal experts before any taking any decision," said Payyavula Keshav, spokesman of Telugu Desam Party in the state capital of Hyderabad, a technology hub. Mr. Reddy couldn't be reached for comment. A further 16 legislators from another regional party, the Praja Rajyam party, also have handed in their resignations.

The Telangana issue is one of the thorniest the national coalition United Progressive Alliance, led by the Congress party, has faced since it started another five-year term following national elections in May. S. Chandrasekharan, director of the New Delhi-based South Asia Analysis Group, said the central government should "follow a slow strategy and wait for tempers to cool" but is unlikely to face much fallout at the national level because the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party is in disarray.

Experts say a constitutional crisis is likely to surface in Andhra Pradesh if half the legislators, or 147, quit, forcing the central government to conduct mid-term elections in the state. About 20 ministers in the state government who are from the Congress party also have threatened to resign.

As the crisis continues, the national government faced accusations that it had acted too quickly in acceding to the demands of a new Telangana state. Mahesh Rangarajan, a political analyst at Delhi University, said Congress and its leader, Sonia Gandhi, should have held adequate consultations with different political parties before making a "hasty" statement on the creation of Telangana.

"There has been faulty management by both the central government and the Congress party," Mr. Rangarajan said. "The spotlight is now on Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi as the entire nation is waiting for an amicable solution to the Telangana problem."

Nalin Kohli, BJP spokesman said; "The government has acted in haste and not looked at the ramifications of their decision. The government's idea of creating a separate state is correct but they have not rightly handled the situation. The BJP also stands for the creation of smaller states. We created the three states of Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand in 2000."

A Congress spokesman didn't return calls for comment.

A Congress party federal minister, Jaganmohan Reddy, joined opposition leaders in shouting anti-Telangana slogans in the Indian Parliament Tuesday. Mr. Reddy is the son of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S.R. Reddy, who died in a helicopter crash in September.

On Monday, Andhra Pradesh police arrested a Congress state minister as he protested and threatened to start a hunger strike to oppose the proposed bifurcation of the state. Anti-Telangana protests and demonstrations were held Tuesday in several parts of Andhra Pradesh and clashes were reported between students and police.