Eleven ministers, who will be part of K.C. Rao’s Telangana cabinet, took oath of office and secrecy by governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, who holds the charge for both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Photo: PTI
Hyderabad: India’s 29th state, Telangana, took birth on Monday, 58 years after it was merged with the Telugu-speaking regions of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, marking an end to a forceful struggle for statehood.
KCR also promised to retain the brand image of Hyderabad, and make the city, the state’s economic engine, a slum-free international city.
The TRS emerged as the single largest party in the new state assembly during elections in April-May, winning 63 seats in the 119-member House.
KCR was sworn in as chief minister of Telangana state comprising 10 districts—Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Medak, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Adilabad, Nalgonda, Warangal, Khammam and Mahbubnagar—that form the north-western part of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
“Centre assures complete support to the people & Government of Telangana in taking the state to newer heights of progress,” Modi added in another tweet.
Narasimhan was sworn in as governor of Telangana on Monday, lifting the President’s Rule imposed in the new state. The other part of Andhra Pradesh will continue to be under President’s Rule until 8 June, when the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) assumes office there.
The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill 2013 was passed in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in February in an unprecedented hurry by the outgoing United Progressive Alliance (UPA), triggering protests from some ruling party ministers and opposition parties.
While the two states have been officially divided as per the pre-appointed date, work to separate some of the functions in various departments between the two governments is still underway.
Underscoring the uncomfortable relationship between the two states, KCR staged a shutdown strike in Telangana on Thursday to protest an ordinance approved by the Union government to annex 205 villages in seven mandals (local administrative units) of Khammam district in Telangana to Andhra Pradesh to facilitate the construction of Polavaram Dam on river Godavari.
“We will make Telangana a role model for other states in India,” KCR said at a post-swearing in ceremony where he inspected a parade by the state police.
He acknowledged that the city’s real estate sector has been going through hard times (because of the political uncertainty over the last five years) and promised to focus on the sector that provides employment to 150,000-200,000 people.
KCR also said his government will transform Telangana from a power-deficit state into a power-surplus state in the next five years. Given the state’s climatic and soil conditions, Telangana also has the potential to be the “seed power of India”, said KCR.
The TRS government will implement all poll promises made in its manifesto, which is largely welfare-driven, the chief minister said. He announced a Rs.100,000 crore fund for backward classes and other weaker sections of society. Half the fund will go to scheduled castes, who form 22% of the state’s 35 million population.
Among other welfare schemes he introduced were monthly pensions of Rs.1,000 for the elderly, Rs.1,500 for handicapped and Rs.1,000 for beedi (tobacco) workers.
KCR also said he would waive the loans of farmers for amounts up to Rs.1 lakh each in the near future. The Telangana government will also build double bedroom accommodation of 125 sq. yards each for weaker sections.
He also announced special increments and health cards for government employees to mark the state’s formation. KCR said his government will have a zero tolerance policy for corruption and atrocities against women.
The Congress party formed the first government of the erstwhile Hyderabad state, comprising Telangana and parts of north Karnataka and Southwest Maharashtra, in the aftermath of independence. Six years later, the state assemblies of Hyderabad and Andhra passed resolutions agreeing to merge the two Telugu-speaking regions after a so-called gentlemen’s agreement was signed between their leaders. The modern-day Andhra Pradesh with Hyderabad as its capital was formed on 1 November, 1956.
It was an unhappy union in the initial years.
Discontentment among some in Telangana region over implementation of provisions of the gentlemen’s agreement led to a violent struggle that was crushed through police and military action in 1969.
Three years later, in 1972, a Supreme Court judgement upholding enforcement of job and education quotas for locals triggered the Jai Andhra movement demanding the separation of Andhra from Telangana. The Union government brokered peace between both the sides with a six-point formula for which the Constitution was amended.
The issue gained prominence in 2001 when KCR floated the TRS party with the sole agenda of forming Telangana state with Hyderabad as its capital. The TRS, however, could not make a mark electorally in 2004 and 2009 general elections until the 2014 polls. In fact, following the party’s embarrassing performance in 2009 general elections, during which KCR scraped through with a narrow margin, an internal revolt broke out in the party.
KCR sat on an indefinite fast in November 2009, forcing the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government to announce its intention to initiate the formation of Telangana state on 9 December 2009. The Union went back on its word following en masse resignations of elected representatives from the non-Telangana region of the state.
Following a four-year impasse, during which a committee to look into the statehood issue was commissioned and the opinions of important political parties in the state was elicited, the Congress party and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) announced they are in favour of carving out Telangana from Andhra Pradesh.
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