Telangana is on a short fuse. A restive Andhra Pradesh is reminding the central government that time is running out.
After agreeing to concede statehood for Telangana in 2009, Delhi is now dithering. Home Minister P Chidambaram, who announced he would initiate the process to form a new state that year, is talking about a consultative process again. That's not going to go down well with Telangana proponents. Andhra Pradesh is now ruled by the Congress, a party beseiged by dissent from within and without. It cannot pretend that all is well and carry on.
What's Telangana all about? The northern part of the state feels it is dominated by politicians from the southern and coastal regions of the Telugu country. The 10 districts of Telangana became a part of Andhra Pradesh in 1956, when states were reorganised throughout India. It seems there were many sceptics even then, with prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru openly expressing doubts about the marriage.
Thankfully, there hasn't been much violence, although Osmania University, hub of Telangana activism, has been tense since Tuesday morning. Police lobbed teargas shells and dispersed students supporting the Telangana shutdown.
Both the centre and the state government are under intense pressure as legislators are resigning in huge numbers.
As The Telegraph writes, it's a battle of nerves. At last count, 100 MLAs had resigned from the Andhra Pradesh assembly. That could trigger a constitutional crisis, forcing the imposition of president's rule.
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