Hyderabad will be a part of Telangana after 10 years: Digvijay

Hyderabad, which would be the joint capital of Telangana and the Andhra region for 10 years, could be modelled after Delhi where law and order is handled by the Centre, Congress leader Digvijay Singh has said.

"We are looking at provisions like we have in Delhi where law and order is being handled by the home ministry directly and the police commissioner is directly responsible to the lieutenant governor...some kind of formulation we are looking at," the All India Congress Committee General Secretary told Karan Thapar in CNN-IBN's show ‘Devil's Advocate’.

He was asked if the city would be part of Telangana or a union territory during the next 10 years. Singh said the Congress resolution has promised to make Hyderabad a part of Telangana after 10 years and "every effort will be made for a new capital for Andhra".

Asked if his party was in favour of a new States Reorganisation Commission given the clamour for new states after the Telangana decision, he said the Congress had passed a resolution in this regard in 2002 and it had not been withdrawn.

"This has been under the consideration of the government since 2002. I don't know (whether) the government will accept it or not. The Congress party had passed a resolution in 2002 for a States Reorganisation Commission, which has not been withdrawn."

He dismissed the suggestion that the decision on Telangana was taken to salvage the party's prospects in the coming Lok Sabha elections, as there was no broad consensus on the issue. "You are absolutely wrong. This decision (creation of Telangana) does not depend on any political expediency. We have been talking about Telangana not in the recent past, but since 1950s," he said.

Singh said widest possible consultations had taken place with all sections of political parties and state leaders over the creation of the new state. He said there were two instances when the Andhra Pradesh assembly had passed resolutions in favour of creation of Telangana.

On the spate of resignations by MLAs and MPs after the decision, he said the party was "fully aware" of the consequences. "Historically, commitments were made, which we honoured."

He dismissed the findings of recent opinion polls, which suggested that the party will slip to second position in the coming general elections. Singh said Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi was not a "concern" for his party in the polls. "Modi is not a factor at all...zilch," he said.