Telangana issue hits real estate business

With the Congress leaders raking up the Telangana issue, real estate business around Hyderabad has been affected. Though land prices have been stagnant, there have been no transactions, according to property dealers in the city.

Congress leaders from the Telangana region have voiced their concern over the proposal for setting up the second state reorganisation committee. A senior party leader and MP, G Venkataswamy, even threatened to resign as MP if the government constituted a state reorganisation committee for the sake of Telangana.

The Congress leaders have also warned industry to keep off from land purchases, especially around Hyderabad, saying that the new government, post-separation, may defer land purchases.

Following this threat, property dealers said the Companies which had entered into agreements have been going back on the deals. ‘‘They prefer to wait and watch the situation for some more period,’’ a major real estate dealer told FE. Though the opposition Telugu Desam Party and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi had earlier waged such threats, the Companies had continued with their transactions, he added.

Notwithstanding the hullabaloo by Congress leaders from Telangana favouring a separate state, chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy feels that since the issue has been left to the party high command, all leaders should not voice their views on it.

Interestingly, the Congress high-command has decided to postpone the issue of the state reorganisation committee due to opposition within the party. The Reddy camp, hence, feels that the decision on a separate state may be delayed further.

Meanwhile, the struggle for separate state has taken a new twist. The Congress leaders from Anantapur district have sought merger with Karnataka, claiming that the merger would benefit the farmers in the district as they could get irrigation water from Tungabhadra without any obstruction.