The Centre is a conceptual myth! So declared film-actor-turned-political leader N.T. Rama Rao, founder of the Telugu Desam Party and the first non-Congress chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. He joined hands with such powerful provincial leaders as Jyoti Basu in West Bengal, H.N. Bahuguna in Uttar Pradesh, Sharad Pawar in Maharashtra, Farooq Abdullah in Jammu & Kashmir and Devi Lal in Haryana to demand more power – fiscal and administrative — for states and non-interference by the Centre in areas that were constitutional responsibilities of state governments. In office in West Bengal and. . .