Telangana  a  Congress  survival  strategy
SIR, The demand for a separate state of Telangana, first raised in 1956, had been rejected by Indira Gandhi and the successive governments of Andhra Pradesh. But the people of the Telangana region had over the decades sacrificed their lives for the cause. Its creation at this juncture suggests that the Congress is desperately seeking a strategy to survive. It eventually decided to bite the Telangana bullet by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh and carving out Telangana as the country&’s 29th state.
 The bifurcation is bound to weaken both the parent state of Andhra Pradesh as well as the fledgling state. In terms of GDP, Andhra holds the second position in the country.
 Though Hyderabad will be the capital of both states, Telangana will be devoid of the agricultural resources of the Andhra region. In order to benefit both states, the Polavaram irrigation project should be declared a national project. Besides, the Centre should put in place a mechanism to address the concerns of Andhra and Rayalseema over the sharing of river waters, power and ensuring the security of the people.
The Congress has manipulated politics at the right time, hopefully to grab the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the Telangana region in next year&’s Lok Sabha election.
It has also checkmated the BJP,  which  had  promised statehood for Telangana, if voted to power.
Yours, etc., Bidyut Kumar
 Chatterjee,
 Faridabad, 31 July.
DIVIDE AND RULE
SIR, Having failed on all fronts, Sonia Gandhi is now engaged in vote-bank politics of divide and rule. She has approved the carving out of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh as a separate state. It is not a practical solution; the Congress has actually turned the clock back. The creation of a new state is acceptable if economic development is the compelling factor. Politics can never be the singular underpinning. There were several small states and principalities before Independence; Sardar Patel gave us a united India and this benefited the states generally. An increase in the number of states can only  the existing problems and impede the country&’s progress in the long run. This can jeopardise the unity of the nation.
Yours, etc., Mahesh Kumar,
New Delhi, 31 July.
SECTARIANISM
SIR,  It was extremely disheartening to read the report on 31 July that the Congress-led UPA has decided to carve Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh.  This will only provoke sectarianism. Several other groups and organisations  will now clamour for statehood. The creation of a new state calls for a separate administrative set-up. It eventually adds to the overall expenditure of  the government that is trying to grapple with poverty, inflation and unemployment. Instead of creating new states, the Centre should immediately take steps to curb petroleum prices, if it really feels for aam aadmi.
Yours, etc., Pinaki Roy,
Balurghat, 31 July.
PRINTING & FONT
SIR, I am a regular reader of The Statesman since my school days. I am now an old man and am prepared to miss a day&’s meal but not a copy of  the paper. I entirely agree with the views expressed by Mr AK Mukherjee in his letter on 20 July. He has stated that The Statesman ‘is a newspaper and not a news magazine, like the others’. My only suggestion is to improve the quality of printing and the font-size of  the letters.
Yours, etc., SP Ghosh,
Howrah, 24 July.