State of India: Everyone wants their share

Centre's move to create India's 29th state - Telengana - has set off a chain reaction with many more groups now wanting their own states.

Dormant statehood movements have been rekindled and this may change the political landscape of the country.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha says it will now launch an agitation for Gorkhaland while the Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh demands the separate state of Harit Pradesh.

CNN-IBN show Face The Nation debated: Andhra to be split – will it open a Pandora's Box?

On the panel of experts to debate the issue were MP and Congress Spokesperson Manish Tewari, chief of Rashtriya Lok Dal Ajit Singh and senior journalist and supporter of Gorkhaland agitation Swaraj Thapa.

Making a state(ment)

Did Home Minister P Chidambaram make a tactical error when he said that the Government will initiate a process for a resolution in the Andhra Assembly for a separate state for Telangana?

To which Manish Tewari said, "No, the Home Minister has not landed himself in any soup. After all the demand for Telangana is not new. It is a four-decade old demand. Eventually it had to come to the talking table and the process had to commence. When a decision is taken, there is momentary agitation but then everything will settle down."

Is the Congress now willing to rethink the whole question of linguistic organisation of states? This is because Andhra Pradesh outside the Hindi-speaking region was the first linguistically organised state. Now we see a demand for a state not on linguistic lines but on culturally-divided lines.

Explaining the history of statehoods in the country, Tewari said, "If we look at this historically after the general reorganisation of states on a linguistic basis you saw the trifurcation of Punjab into Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in 1966. And then you had the next reorganisation when Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand were carved out of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar respectively. Then Uttaranchal emerged out of Uttar Pradesh. So decisions have been taken according to circumstances. And each demand has to be evaluated according to the context of special circumstances."

However, when Ajit Singh was asked why Harit Pradesh should be formed he reasoned, "I have been asking for the reorganisation of Uttar Pradesh. UP is the sixth largest state in the world by population. People have to travel upto 700 kilometers to just reach the state secretariat. Do you think development is possible like this? If Harit Prdaesh is formed it will be the same size as Rajasthan and will be bigger than Kerala. Governance is difficult when the size of the state is big."

To which Swaraj Thapa said, "The point that Ajit Singh is making that small is beautiful and can be better governed is a very powerful argument. This is a point for the Gorkhaland too that Darjeeling is too far from Kolkata."

But is it regional and people assertion or is it just wanting to be politically salient. In other words, is it just the race to become a chief minister?

"You cannot put it down to one factor. There are several other reasons. As far as Gorkhaland is concerned there is the ethnicity factor, cultural, linguistic and administrative aspects besides political factors. Also apart from it being the longest demand, the entire population is involved in this. It is a mass movement," Thapa said.

Many believe that everyone has a right to have their own state. But this could lead to an epidemic of identities all over India.

"It is for the Government to examine a demand if it is put forth," Tewari said.

But does the Government not see the viability of a state? Consider Telangana: It is said to be one of the most backward regions in India, it has no major power project, no infrastructure and no institutes of excellence. Does this not worry the Government that this kind of entity should not come into existence?

"It is not about big states being more or less efficient. We have see that some bigger states are doing better governance than smaller states. So there is no one size that fits all scenarios out here," Tewari argued.

Going back to Harit Pradesh, many say that the criticism that could be made against the RLD leader is that he is espousing the cause of a new state out of UP because he is guided by political ambition.

"The reason for Harit Pradesh should be administrative convenience, economic viability, cultural and linguistic affinity and development needs. Who ought to be chief minister or not is not the question," Ajit Singh replied to the allegations.

But can this be done by blackmail? GJM is going on a strike, CSR went on hunger strike, can these demands be pushed by holding a gun to the Central Government’s head?

"Hunger strike cannot be a pressure tactic. It is something that Mahatma Gandhi followed and subsequently every agitation uses this means," Thapa reasoned.

Adding to Thapa’s statement, Ajit Singh said, "Till the time you do not do something drastic the Government does not listen to you and that’s why such means are adopted."

Concluding the debate, Tewari said, "Between 1966 when you had the trifurcation of Punjab and then 2001 when you had the second round of reorganization over two decades had elapsed. So these things have to be deliberated in detail."

Final results of the SMS/web poll:

Yes – 85 per cent

No – 15 per cent

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)

#Face the Nation #Telangana #Andhra Pradesh