Telangana 70: Solution is in politics, not in statistics

When SriKrishna committee was constituted, I wrote the following on 15 Feb 2010:

…we should completely, unanimously and categorically reject Srikrishna Committee as a political solution to the current situation in Telangana, because it doesn’t provide one.  There should no expectation whatsoever that Srikrishna Committee will provide a solution to the current problem in the state.  What is needed is not another ‘study’, not another ‘research’, but an action that demonstrates political expediency, a political and unequivocal decision that solves the problem of Telangana right away – which is creation of Telangana…Let’s make it clear to ourselves now.  We don’t want to be a guinea pig for another social research. 

The solution to Telangana problem lies in political decisions, not in committees, studies or research.  We have had 53 years of overwhelming evidence of false promises and broken agreements.   That is good enough to demerge this state which was formed on a conditional merger based on set of safeguards and protections which were all flouted or revoked.  

On 25 Feb 2010, I wrote:

There are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics. One look at the fields of Telangana and Andhra would tell you the state of affairs.   Facts can be interpreted the way you want to.   India did not fight for independence from Britain on a statistic.  Andhra State was not formed from Madras State on a statistic. What we need is a political decision, not a statistical report.

Repeating myself, I say, the solution to the current situation in Telangana lies in politics, not  in statistics.   Therefore, any statistical interpretation given on Telangana should be rejected by Telangana people, whether it supports their cause or not. 

Political parties are not representatives of people

We should all read our Indian Constitution and understand it very well.  It will teach us how a democracy works.  Especially, the two people who need to read it on an urgent basis are P Chidambaram and Abhishek Sanghvi.  Political parties do not represent people.  Elected leaders represent people.  In a democracy, it is the elected leaders, not political parties, form the voice of the people.  To understand the mood of the people, one should get a vote from elected leaders, not political parties.   Some parties could have 2 elected leaders while some could have 150 elected leaders, so how come they are being treated equal?  Where did we go wrong with Indian democracy that we started to count the political parties and not the elected representatives?  Why are political outfits being called for consultations and asked of consensus? 

Indian Constitution does not recognize a political party as a legal constituent.  The only true representative of people is the elected leaders, not the political party.  A show of hands amongst the elected leaders of Telangana, irrespective of their political party, will tell you that people want Telangana.  That is true democracy, counting the number of elected leaders from a region who support separate state, not counting the political parties on where they stand.  We should completely reject this practice of calling political parties to New Delhi.  Instead the representatives should represent the region and carry the count of elected leaders of the region in support of Telangana.