Student leader Mallikarjun re-emerged on the stage with renewed
energy. There can be no doubt that the top political brass of Nizam Telangana
reinjected him into the separate state politics. Mallikarjun, who a few weeks
ago seemed shocked by the violent consequences of his seemingly insignificant
actions, now seemed more comfortable with his newfound power. His first step
was to give a call for bandh across the Telangana region, effectively bringing the
students back into the violent movement. The bandh was successful, except for
the districts of Khammam and Nizamabad. Congress Party leaders behind the
students’ movement continued to emerge, one after the other, from backstage.
Former Minister Smt. T. N. Sadaalakshmi presided over a meeting with
1,500 student leaders from all the Nizam Telangana districts. The delegates,
under the guidance of Sadaalakshmi, met for six hours. At the meeting’s end,
they released a statement, saying that the students of all nine districts would
not go to classes until the formation of the Telangana state. They then passed a
resolution demanding the resignation of all the Telangana ministers and MLAs.
Later, in a meeting held at the Reddy hostel, 30,000 people participated and took
an oath not to rest until they achieve a Telangana state.
Sadly, leaders such as Sadaalakshmi and many others were personally
overseeing the destruction of students’ futures by helping them organize the
college boycotts and sending them into the streets to protest, which often turned
violent. What the innocent students, sacrificing everything they had for the
crooked politicians, did not know was that they would be cheated and left in the
cold as soon as the opportunistic politicians’ ulterior motives were met.
Universities fearing violence announced closure of colleges until
the end of summer holidays and indefinitely postponed exams. As a result,
students were on their way to losing their entire academic year.
CM Kasu Brahmananda Reddy, still hoping to defuse the crisis, busied
himself with fulfilling other items in the all-party agreement not constrained
by the Supreme Court stay.
One major point of contention was the balance of funds—that is,
additional tax revenue obtained from the Telangana region over its fair share to
the state exchequer. On the state government’s request, the Auditor General of
India appointed a senior official, Sri Lalith Kumar, to assess the balance of funds
issue. Sri Lalith Kumar submitted his report on March 14, 1969, and determined
that the balance of funds between November 1, 1956, when the integrated state
was formed, and March 31, 1968, was Rs. 34 crores and 10 lakhs.
Telangana leaders disagreed with the auditor general of India’s
assessment. They claimed this time that the balance of funds was 107.13
crores. The Telangana Regional Council approved this number. This was the
same council that a few months ago determined that the balance of funds were
33 crores. Minister Konda Lakshman, for his part, claimed that the balance
of funds was 82 crores. He also proposed a new model of administration for
Telangana. He suggested a self-governing authority for the region, while
continuing to exist as a united state. Konda Lakshman along with Sri Chokka
Rao took this proposal to the PM but failed to impress it upon her.
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