Firstpost Ebook OnTelangana

It took five decades
but Telangana is born
Table of contents
India gets its 29th state

Telanganas creation will take 6 months: Heres how it will work History lessons for Telangana: Congress will win but TRS may lose Logic of Telangana is sound: Why India needs 50 small states Why Telangana raises more questions than answers Can Andhra Pradesh reinvent itself after losing Telangana? Why the Telangana struggle wont end with statehood From 1948 to 2013: A brief history of the Telangana movement 04 06 08 11 13 15 17
The politics of separation

Why Telangana does not justify Gorkhaland and Bodoland Why Omar Abdullah is so strongly against the creation of Telangana Telangana: People, netas want small states, not for same reasons Telangana effect: GJM calls indefinite bandh in Darjeeling from Saturday 20 22 24 27
Joy and anger: reactions to Telangana

The long wait from 1948-2013: An old Telangana activist speaks Telangana supporters celebrate after five-decades of struggle Telangana: Cos welcome end of uncertainty, but warn of pitfalls Andhra: Ministers confront Kiran Kumar, as protests take violent turn Telangana: Cong MLA from Vishakhapatnam resigns Modis open letter on Telangana: Cong has betrayed for 9 yrs, it cannot be trusted 30 32 34 36 38 39
The battle for Hyderabad

Will Hyderabad become the next Chandigarh? Cong ministers demand new Andhra capital in Rayalaseema region Telangana effect: Brace for a rise in Hyderabad property prices 43 44 45
Copyright 2012 Firstpost
India gets its 29th state
Telanganas creation will take

6 months: Heres how it will work
Creation of the new Telangana state will take close to six months that involve a number of steps, including adoption of state re-organisation bill by Parliament by a simple majority.
PTI, Jul 30, 2013 ew Delhi: Creation of the new Telangana state will take close to six months that involve a number of steps, including adoption of state re-organisation bill by Parliament by a simple majority.
40 days. The Union Home Ministry will prepare another note for the Union Cabinet with Re-organisation bill on the basis of the recommendations and suggestions of the GoM requesting the Union Cabinet to approve the State Re-organisation bill and to recommend to the President to refer the Bill to the legislature of the state. Andhra Pradesh State Legislature will also have to pass a resolution that a separate state of Telangana be formed. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance will appoint an expert Committee to recommend measures for smooth transition in terms of financial management and viability of the reorganised state.
Contrary to the perception that a Constitution amendment bill is required, the bill to be adopted by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha does not need a two-thirds majority as is the case when a Constitution amendment is required to be adopted. At a Union Cabinet meeting, which is expected to be held tomorrow, an in-principle approval is likely to be given for creation of a Group of Ministers (GoM) comprising Ministers of Home, Finance, HRD, Health, Irrigation, Power, Environment and Forests, Railways and Deputy Chairman Planning Commission to go into the economic issues on creation of the new state. The Home Ministry will submit a note to the Union Cabinet for creation of Telanagana on the basis of the proposal received from the state government. The entire process will take at least
In view of the normative economic factors that would operate in the remaining state of Andhra Pradesh consequent upon formation of Telangana state, a dedicated unit will be set up in the Planning Commission to deal exclusively with the re-organised state under the direct charge of the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission. The unit will ensure that, with the help of better financial management and adequate devolution of funds from the Centre, multifaceted development of the region takes place, especially with respect to core infrastructure. After the second Cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister would recommend to the President that the draft Bill be referred under Article 3 of the Constitution to the State Legislature for their views to be given within 30 days.
The President would then refer the Bill to the State Legislature. Both the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council will then consider the Bill and give their views within 30 days. The recommendations of the State Legislature will be incorporated into the draft Re-organisation Bill and vetted by the Law Ministry. A third note will be prepared with draft Reorganisation bill vetted by the Law Ministry and sent to the Union Cabinet for approval for
introduction in Parliament. Soon, a notice will be given for introduction of the Reorganisation Bill in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. After introduction in both Houses of Parliament, the Bill has to be passed by a simple majority. After being passed by both the Houses of Parliament, the Bill will be sent to President for his assent and the new state Telangana will come into existence.
History lessons for Telangana:

Congress will win but TRS may lose
As Congress makes a killing, Kiran Kumar Reddy and K Chandrashekar Rao should read history and ponder their fate.
Sanjay Singh Aug 1, 2013 fter initial belligerence, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has made a complete about turn over the creation of a separate Telengana state. Reddy seem to be doing what Lalu Prasad Yadav did 13 years ago when then NDA government decided to bifurcate Bihar and carve out Jharkhand. Over my dead body, a defiant Lalu then said but soon allowed a resolution for the creation of Jharkhand to be moved in the Bihar assembly and also have it passed.
Chhattisgarh out of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand out of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand out of Bihar. All three were created on varying dates in November 2000. It is interesting that none of the three chief ministers who presided over the parent state Digvijaya Singh in Madhya Pradesh, Rajnath Singh in Uttar Pradesh and Rabri Devi in Bihar retuned to power after the bifurcation of their states. All three went on to lose the next elections, as and when it was held in their respective states. Andhra Pradesh will go to the polls in AprilMay 2014, coinciding with the parliamentary elections. Kiran Kumar Reddy will need more than simple luck or hard work of party workers to return to power. What looks certain, at least for now, is that he is destined to the have history repeat for him as did for the three above mentioned chief ministers. But he knows that if he keeps party high command in good humor, he can still have a good career in the party even if the game is lost out for him in the home state.
Reddy is doing the same after threatening to resign over the destructive decision, he now wants to abide by the party high command decision and move on. Kiran Kumar Reddy (KKR) is a loyal Congressman and was picked by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to be the chief minister of the state in the aftermath of a towering YSR Reddy. But history is not on his sided. His ministers and MLAs are quitting but thats not an issue here. Before the 29th state of the Indian Union comes into existence in the next few months, he should reflect on the historicity of the creation of the 26th, 27th & 28th states of the Indian Union
Equally interesting is the fact that those who created history by being the chief minister of these three new found states Ajit Jogi in Chhatisgarh, Nityanand Swami in Uttrakhand and Babulal Marandi in Jharkhand also did not return to power. Another critical angle to the creation of states through long standing agitation, is that the party which toils, sweats it out, and spills blood becomes marginalized to the extent of becoming irrelevant when their efforts bore fruit and the states were created. Uttarakhands kranti Dal became completely irCopyright 2012 Firstpost
relevant in state of Uttarakhand. In Jharkhand, the party which led the movement Jharkhand Mukti Morcha did not remain the force it once was. Though after lot of permutation and combination its leader Hemant Soren was able to recently form a government with Congress, RJD and Independents, he and his party no longer command the clout that his father Shibu Soren akka Guruji had in this tribal region when he led the struggle for separate statehood. In Chhattisgarh there was not much of a popular movement, a Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha and a party in Gondwana has not been heard of since the state was carved out. So the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) had better watch out. It may not have a bright future ahead. Its leader Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) will be faced with three possibilities become irrelevant like the UKD, or float like JMM at times aligning with Congress, at times with the BJP, or even merge with the Congress as Digvijaya Singh suggested. After Congress decided to create a new state, his agenda and credit has been hijacked by the Grand Old Party and as such the TRS has had nothing to offer, unless the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act prepared by the Congress ministers at the centre goof it up and give him a handle to yet again rake up wounded pride or the issue of injustice. There are many who believe that a K Chandrashekar Rao led TRS could go with Congress through either merging or aligning with it due to simple political logic and emerging arithmetic on the ground.
Like the then BJP leadership of 2000, the Congress high command has good solid reasons to create Telangana. The party has cut its losses, which it would have otherwise grievously suffered if it had not bifurcated Andhra. The party may still loose badly in the 25 parliamentary seats of the parent state Andhra Pradesh, but could gain significantly in the 17 seats of the Telangana region. The Congress high command shrewdly timed its decision coming closer to assembly and parliamentary elections and in the process eliminating challenges from all rival political parties in the Telangana region. YSR Congress, which had been creating a buzz is completely irrelevant in Telangana due to its vociferous opposition to the creation of this state, the TDP was neither here nor there, a party without position and thus not to be trusted by the people in the region, the TRS will have the goodwill but will lose the political agenda to go to the elections, the BJP which has been championing the cause will be seen as a friend, and generate some confidence but does not have grass root organisational capacity to take on the Congress. The Congress has done it on such a way that it emerges as a champion of granting the long standing aspirations of the people,also agreeing to drop the initial idea of including the two districts of Rayalseema in the new state of Telangana. The 2014 elections in Telangana, parliamentary and assembly could just be the way for Congress. The poll surveyors have a task clear cut out for them.
Why India needs 50 small states

The logic behind the creation is sound. But the logic leads to the creation of more states, including more city-states with greater economic powers.
R Jagannathan Jul 31, 2013
Logic of Telangana is sound:
esterdays Congress decision to allow a new state Telangana to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh has a simple logic behind it: electoral math. If Telangana had not been announced, Congress would have been wiped out in both the Andhra and Telangana regions in 2014. The announcement thus is a matter of self-preservation. If this wasnt the case, Telangana could already have been a reality by now, for the first announcement on it was made as early as on 9 December 2009 by no less a person than P Chidambaram, then Home Minister. That he
reneged on the promise in less than two weeks tells another story. That it took three-and-a-half years and a full-fledged peoples agitation for the Congress to make yet another announcement on Telangana tells the story even more clearly. However, the politics of the decision need not detain us here. The simple point is that it is a good decision even though it has been arrived at through a process of self-serving logic. Good intentions can sometimes lead to bad results (as BJPs India Shining campaign did in 2004) and dubious intentions sometimes result in good
decisions. Telangana is a case in point. The first thing to emphasise is that Telangana is not the end. Once you accept the logic of smaller states, you have carry it through: we need smaller states and India could conceivably have at least 50 states, including city-states. In Maharashtra, it should mean not just Vidarbha, but Mumbai as a charter city, a city-state with its own rules. Nor does the logic of smaller states end with their mere creation. We dont just need smaller states, but more empowered states. Smaller states without greater economic and constitutional empowerment can amount to nothing. Its like giving a hungry man a plate with no food on it. The ultimate reasoning behind smaller states is empowerment. India needs to become an Empowered States of India ESI, to be short and not just a Union of States, as the Constitution says without giving states enough powers. Lets start with the importance of small first. First, smaller states mean key decisions will be taken closer to the ground. Just as Delhi should not take decisions on food security for Chhattisgarh, Mumbai should not decide what is good even for Vidarbha, where farmer suicides have blotted the landscape endlessly. Solutions to Vidarbha lie closer in Nagpur. Second, administering large and diverse states is more complex and probably inefficient as well, though there can be economies of scale in some ways. Size cuts both ways. But it stands to reason that politics can be much more focused when the administrative area and population are of manageable proportions. Just as XXL size corporations become bureaucracies, XXL states are inherently inefficient. Indian states are simply too big for their own good. Even after the creation of Telangana as the 29th state, the average Indian state will have 42 million people though actual sizes vary widely from the 200-and-odd million of Uttar Pradesh to states such as Arunachal, with just a few thousand people scattered all over. The European Union, with as many states as
India currently (28), has an average per-country population of 18 million. The 50-state USA has an average state population of just 6.25 million. While we need not compare apples and oranges, the short point is that smaller states bring the rulers and the ruled closer to one another physically and emotionally and in a democracy that is a very good thing. Third, a key reason why smaller states are better is that smaller states reduce diversity. And that too is a good thing. High diversity makes for complex political and administrative calculations. The whole point of creating linguistic states in the 1950s was that they would improve administrative efficiency. Consider how difficult it would have been to administer the Bombay Presidency with at least two major languages (Marathi and Gujarati), or the Madras presidency (with four major linguistic groups to manage Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam). The logic now needs to extend downwards. Diversity is not only about language but economic and cultural diversity too. Coastal Andhra has a different economic culture compared to Telangana. Vidarbha is different from Marathwada and western Maharashtra or coastal Maharashtra or Mumbai. Resources cannot be efficiently allocated when there is so much diversity since the power structures so created will hijack them for their own ends. Smaller states will not eliminate political or policy paralysis, but they will ensure that excess diversity is not the reason for such paralysis. The story of Indias current political logjam where regional powers try to block or hijack central resources for their own ends does not bear repetition in the larger states. The other point about smaller states is empowerment. Once again, the case of Telangana is instructive. Unlike Vidarbha or North Bengal or Jharkhand (which was carved out of Bihar), Telanganas problem is not distance from the power centre (Hyderabad is bang in the middle of Telangana); it is a complete disconnect with the power structure that paid obeisance to politicians from the richer coastal districts of Andhra.
How did the development needs of one of the poorest regions of Andhra (Telangana, excluding Hyderabad) get ignored despite having the power centre right there? The answer is capture of the power centre by Andhra elites with little commitment to Telangana. It is an open secret that Andhra politicians and business families own huge amounts of land in Hyderabad. The late YSR, who was opposed to Telangana, and his son Jagan Mohan Reddy, are both linked to covert land grabs. One of the reasons why Telangana has been so delayed is that Andhra politicians with benami land holdings had to seek ways to reduce their exposure to Telangana and invest it in the remaining parts of Andhra which will now see a land price boom. Ongole, which is considered a possible new capital for the rump state of Andhra Pradesh, is already seeing a land price rise, with the government itself having bought 30,000 acres. The logic of smaller states also needs to be extended to the idea of empowered city-states. The reason: cities are now giant administrative centres with their own requirements. The Mumbai metropolitan region, for example, has a population of 18 million equal to the average European Union country.
Mumbai cannot be administered by politicians who get elected from outside the city. Metros need a more corporate type of governance structures to operate successfully, and the current situation, where the elected city government lacks the power to even sack the municipal commissioner (which only the state government can do) shows why the city is so poorly administered. The elected representatives thus focus on making money since they cant do much about governance. Even Delhi cannot have its law and order run by the Union home ministry. In India, UP is fit for splitting into four states (Mayawati even passed a resolution to this effect, but once again, that turned out to be an election gimmick), Andhra, Maharashtra and Karnataka into three, Gujarat into two (with Saurashtra and Kutch being sliced off), Tamil Nadu and Kerala into two each, and Kashmir into three (Valley, Jammu and Ladakh). Plus there is a case to create charter cities starting probably with Mumbai. The remaining metros can follow once the Mumbai experiment works. New city-states can also be created from scratch, and the new Andhra capital, wherever it is, provides a great opportunity for experimenting with new city governance structures. The logic of Telangana necessarily leads to more smaller states, and more empowered city-states.
more questions than answers

Between Hyderabad, Seemandhra, Congress strategising and tension across the state, the creation of Telangana is raising more questions than answers.
Usha Turaga Revelli, July 31, 2013
Why Telangana raises
o one knows who coined the word Seemandhra to indicate the non-Telangana regions of Andhra Pradesh. But, the leaders of those two regions certainly would not have anticipated that the Seemandhra spectre would loom so large and so quickly upon them as it did on Tuesday.
haste with which the issue has been handled is clearly not without an electoral design. It is clear that the Congress wants to win at least half of the 33 seats it had won in the 2009 polls in the State, an objective that gained strength from the recent, not-so-bad show put up by the party candidates in the first two phases of the panchayat elections. Also noteworthy is the political strategizing that the party started a few weeks back by granting Cabinet berths in the latest reshuffle to two of the most hardcore united Andhra leaders, Kavuri Sambasiva Rao from West Godavari and JD Seelam from Guntur and then making them responsible for reigning in the ferocious local leaders in their respective areas.
The peoples demand for a separate Telangana has been long and unceasing for the last 60 years which, after much ebbing and flowing, seems to have found its culmination in the 30 July announcement. The Congress party swung back and forth in the last three and a half years since it first announced the initiation of the process of state formation in December 2009, but finally fell to political expediency. It is not a political decision, said Digvijaya Singh, in charge of AP Congress affairs, while announcing the outcome of the UPA and CWC meetings which unanimously resolved to form Telangana. A laughable claim since the timing of the announcement is unmistakable, and the
It is also hard to discount the other push factor the BJP. Considering that the BJP president made repeated statements that the NDA will form Telangana if it comes to power and that Narendra Modi, who will visit Andhra Pradesh next month, is likely to make a definitive statement, the Congress leadership appears to have been compelled to take a definitive decision. Congress actions to prod the TRS about its merger promise even as it stole K Chandrasekhar Raos thunder with the sudden announcement, and the underlying need to neutralize Jagan Reddy and a hassling Chandrababu Naidu in the run-up to the 2014 polls, also show that the decision is nothing but political. The response to the announcement is guarded
and skeptical, including from the Telangana quarters themselves. Mutual mistrust continues, with both the TRS as well as the coordinator of the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) calling for caution until the Bill is passed. Some people may have burst a few crackers but the official celebrations will be only after the Bill is passed, said Rao. The CWCs decision was not be easy, said Digvijaya Singh. What lies ahead for the party and the Government is no picnic either. Many issues are sticky and promise to make the path to statehood a walk on burning coals. The biggest and the foremost issue is Hyderabad. Hyderabad will remain the common capital for 10 years, a move that indulges the Telangana camp, a fact acknowledged by KCR who has already started calling for investments in the city for more jobs for Telangana youth. However, common claims notwithstanding, the geo-location of Hyderabad, which entails travelling through Telangana districts, is bound to be irksome for people from other regions. The Hyderabad-based Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), which has been opposing bifurcation and has been leaning toward Rayala-Telangana which can bring in more Muslim votes, is expected to make strategic moves to assert itself too. What is equally worrying for the Congress is the spate of resignations from its ranks, which already began with senior MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao and the chairman of its 20 point programme committee Tulsi Reddy leading the way. Then the maverick Vijaywada MP Lagadapati Rajgopal, understandably wearing a dark scowl, threatened ominously that it is not all over. He inadvertently confirmed the suspicions of the Telangana people that there may be many a slip between the cup and the lip, and there was danger of a repeat of the 2009 Chidambaram episode. The funniest part though was the scramble to take credit for the new state. While the TRS
chief thanked everyone from the poets to paperboys for making his dream come true, the Congress leaders struck a sagacious and benevolent pose, basking in their latest surge of power. The BJP claimed that its back-end operations did the magic. Curiously enough, although it has been the only party that has always stuck to the two-states formula, the response that the BJP got from the Telangana people in the recent Panchayat elections was inhospitable to put it mildly. The TDP is mostly stunned into silence, an echo of its position in 2009, though some of its Telangana leaders claim some slice of the glory. The YSR Congress party is merely muttering in protest for now and is more concerned with the dissent brewing in its own backyard. Reports are pouring in from the Rayalaseema and coastal districts of angry protests and violence, but whether the anger is organically sustainable is the question. And the red corridor theory that has been floated by a section of the police officers in the state seems to have been brushed aside by the Government. The drama will unfold for real in the monsoon session of Parliament, but the Group of Ministers that will be set up on the issue may have some bearing on it. And then, there is the demand for a separate Rayalaseema that is slowly fuming with a senior IPS officer resigning. Incidentally, Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, Chandrababu Naidu and YS Jaganmohan Reddy are all from the Seema region. The campaign for the 2014 elections is going to be by far the most interesting this State has ever seen. The leaders from the Seemandhra region, who had become rather complacent in the recent months, are now set to raise a fresh battle cry, but it remains to be seen whether the preventive strategies that the Congress may have planned will subdue them. Since there is still no clarity as to who should look for their political stakes in which part, it will be strategic politics that will take precedence over long-term development goals. Meanwhile, people in the three regions of the present Andhra Pradesh will continue to be at a loss.
Can Andhra Pradesh reinvent itself after losing Telangana?

The issue of forming the new state was as much about identity as about compatibility.
Akshaya Mishra Jul 31, 2013
o the decision has been taken finally. Telangana was probably never destined to be part of Andhra Pradesh. Common language the raison detre for the creation of states in India was not glue strong enough to keep different parts of the state together. The UPAs decision today, endorsing the separate state of Telangana, is only acknowledgement of this reality. The issue was as much about identity as about compatibility and neither was satisfied by the existing situation.
compatibility. The hunger for a separate identity among the people of the region was evident at the time of Independence. It took Operation Polo from the Indian Army for the annexation of the princely state of Hyderabad the geographical spread of which roughly corresponded to the present day Telangana region in 1948. There was massive local resentment in 1956 when the region was merged with present day Andhra Pradesh. Not many among political figures, including Jawaharlal Nehru, were convinced fully that the merger was tenable or even justified. Now that the separation has happened, it should not surprise those familiar with the history of the demand for statehood. The creation of Telangana is certainly a blow, economic and otherwise, to the other regions of Andhra Pradesh. It accounts for close to 75 percent of the states revenues, almost the whole of its coal reserves and 45 percent of its forested area. Besides, a major portion of the catchment areas of rivers Krishna and Godavari lie in this region. After the bifurcation of the state it becomes the upper riparian state which comes with its distinct advantages. And, of course, theres the big Hyderabad question. If the city, the hub of economic activities in the state, goes to the new state, the other part of Andhra Pradesh state is left with virtually nothing. Hyderabad accounts for 55 percent of the states revenues and 65 percent of the Union governments revenues. It is also a huge investment destination for people from the Rayalaseema and coastal regions. The formation of the new state threatens to jeopardise a lot of lives. But Hyderabad, given its geographical location, cannot stay separate from the new state.
While announcing the formation of Telangana after a Congress Working Committee meet, party general secretary Digvijaya Singh said the new state would comprise 10 districts and Hyderabad would be the joint capital for 10 years from the date of the formation of Telangana. A new capital for the Seemandhra region will be developed eventually. The move was earlier cleared by the UPAs coordination committee. The nuances of the process of separation are not in the public domain yet, but the decision should offer those spearheading the separate state movement some sense of closure. Also, it addresses the issues of identity and
Passionate reactions are expected and there will be a serious political price to pay, not only for the Congress and other parties too. The Congress has avoided the folly of adding two Rayalaseema districts to the new state. And theres no clear signal on how is it going to benefit from the decision electorally, unless of course, the TRS decides to merge with it. A lot of work still needs to be done, particularly in the area of division of resources and watersharing arrangement, and it might take a year
more for the new state to be officially formed. The Seemandhra region, which has a reason to feel cheated, could actually gain from the division. The business and construction activities associated with the new capital city could give its economy a fillip. Surely, the end of this unnatural coexistence could only be good for both sides in the long run.
Why the Telangana struggle
wont end with statehood

The victory should not be measured only by the statehood gained, but by getting the region developed.
Mahesh Vijapurkar Jul 31, 2013
e had fakirs in their black robes, a huge steel clapper in hand, seeking alms with the cry, Jo dega, uska bhala; jo nahi dega, uska bhi bhala! (He who gives the alms, good wishes to him; he who doesnt, to him too!) In Hyderabad, we also had saffron robed mendicants who, like the fakirs, made it a point to put back a few grains in the givers hand from the alms given so the generosity doesnt wipe him clean.
desire. That explains an innocent boys keen interest: everyone was talking about it. That bulls nod took nearly four decades to materialise, though, of course, from now on, given the capability of the political machinery to introduce subterfuges and plan sabotages, a slip between the cup and the lip cannot be forthrightly ruled out. The sudden decisiveness does speak of an electoral consideration in an election that could be a toss-up; no poll of the mood has painted the Congress and UPA-II in good hues so far. It all started in 1968-69, roller-coasted for four decades and a half, and took innumerable lives. Equitable distribution of development gains, conceded when the Telangana slice of the Nizams Hyderabad State consented to merge with linguistic Andhra was not delivered. When surplus agricultural wealth from the deltaic regions of Andhra the estuarine parts of Pennar, Krishna and Godavari rivers began to arrive in Hyderabad, the differentials became visible.
There was, apart from the beggars, yet another kind. These would tug a bull, caparisoned, nicely ornamented with cowries. They were like fortune tellers. Asked a question, they would either nod a yes or a no, unambiguously. If the head went side to side, it was a no. A vertical movement was a yes. My five-year-old cousin, Keshav, one day asked the bull when it stopped in front of his home in Lalagudi, Secunderabad, Kya, Telangana hog a kya? It nodded a clear yes and the little fellows joy couldnt be contained. By then, what was a set of statement by a few student leaders and politicians had become a widely expressed
It was not, however, that economics alone that started or sustained this anger at having been clubbed into the same pot with another group, which was so culturally different. Though they spoke the same language, Telugu, they were markedly different at the same time. The intonation, Urdu peppering it liberally, the festivals, the customs which had drawn from the ruler culture made them out to be immiscible. The economic reasons made it easy to articulate a demand for a divorce. The hitherto docile, even laidback communities of the locals began to see the people from the coastal areas and the Rayalaseema districts as
settlers, an unfortunate term. And they saw cultural invasion and economic domination. They were, as time showed however, not too far from the truth at all. But neglect of the backward regions continued despite assurances of correctives, and political control remained mostly with those the locals saw as outsiders. Neglect and a feeling of being short-changed together can be an incendiary mixture, and politics and politicians tend to emphasise these perceptions. The students rose as one, Osmania University became the hub. As a student of one of its constituent colleges, I was a witness to the initial reluctance. G Mallikarjun, who later became a railway minister, got a cold reception when he canvassed our full participation if need be, to take to the streets. But like in all stirs, there is an impassioned, committed, no-holds-barred-minded core and it was true of the Telangana agitation that is how it is referred to by all concerned even now but the rest who may have supported it, even silently, found the period between 1969-71 traumatic. The students were at the forefront of it, examinations were delayed, and it ended with the loss of an entire year and doubts about the quality of graduates of Osmania University. There was the anger of the dispossessed, with memories of the feudalism that coursed through Telangana, raised and nursed during the Nizams rule. They feared a potentially another fiefdom. As a scholar, Mohan Guruswamy wrote elsewhere, Jawaharlal Nehru (had) assuaged them (during merger into AP) somewhat with safeguards but they remained on paper and the people of Andhra gained ascendancy over Hyderabads and Telanganas social and economic life. Telangana has been a region where a marked bloody Communist apprising against the Nizams feudal arrangement to the extent of being an armed rising predating the Naxalite movement. Each time a new set of safeguards failed to achieve the purpose, the fears of further sub-
mission to Andhras gained strength. They saw then, and they do even now, how investments flowed into Hyderabad and mostly around it and the nine other districts remained stagnant. That is a justification for the persistence of the stir which saw new politicians emerging to lead it from Chenna Reddy then to K Chandrashekar Rao now, even though the latter is blatantly raising his own political family with a place for his son, nephew and daughter and will be till Telangana is signed, sealed and delivered. But there will also be a lament for the lost years. The delay is the thing; the delay only strengthening the resolve. The views of my friends and contemporaries of the late-1960, early 1970s makes are interesting: one, that like Chenna Reddys championing of the cause was mainly because of his craving for office, which could be seen among all current proponents of the cause; two, trauma of seeing violence seeping in, loss of respect for law when buses were burnt at random, never seen earlier; Hyderabad is not the same; like all cities, a melange, chaotic, but thriving. None of those who were around at the commencement of the long-drawn agitation would want to concede that it is all over bar shouting, even when the state is formed. The expectation is that the political leadership would not be tempted into mere venal politics but work for securing the progress denied. Even today, a district headquarters in Telangana is more or less like it was four decades ago, devoid of facilities, employment, and aspirations are going to be higher than then. Perhaps a decade is all the new states leadership would have to sort out imbalances. That, if done, would be satisfactory, or else, the bull may return, as it would, to the china shop. The victory should not be measured only by the statehood gained, but by getting the region where it ought to have been: if not entirely prosperous to start with, at least, less inequitable.
From 1948 to 2013: A brief history
of the Telangana movement

Following is a brief history of Andhra Pradesh and chronology of the movement for Telangana state.
PTI, Jul 30, 2013
yderabad: Following is a brief history of Andhra Pradesh and chronology of the movement for Telangana state:
tral leaderships decision in this regard though there was opposition in Telangana region. * Accepting the merger proposal, Andhra assembly passed a resolution on November 25, 1955 promising to safeguard the interests of Telangana. * An agreement was reached between Telangana leaders and Andhra leaders on February 20, 1956 to merge Telangana and Andhra with promises to safeguard Telanganas interests. A Gentlemens Agreement was then signed by Bezawada Gopala Reddy and Burgula Ramakrishna Rao to the effect. * Eventually, under the States Re-organisation Act, Telugu-speaking areas of Hyderabad state were merged with Andhra state, giving birth to the state of Andhra Pradesh on 1 November, 1956.
*The region, now being called Telangana, was part of the erstwhile Hyderabad state which was merged into the Indian Union on 17 September, 1948.
*Central government appointed a civil servant, M K Vellodi, as the first Chief Minister of Hyderabad state on 26 January 1950. In 1952, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was elected Chief Minister of Hyderabad state in the first democratic election. *Andhra was the first state to be carved out (from erstwhile Madras state) on linguistic basis on 1 November, 1953. It had Kurnool town (in Rayalaseema region) as its capital after the death of Potti Sriramulu who sat on a 53-day fast-unto-death demanding the new state. * The proposal for amalgamation of Hyderabad state with Andhra state came up in 1953 and the then Chief Minister of Hyderabad state, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, supported the Congress cen-
* The city of Hyderabad, the then capital of Hyderabad state, was made the capital of Andhra Pradesh state. * In 1969, an agitation began in Telangana region as people protested the failure to implement the Gentlemens Agreement and other safeguards properly. * Marri Channa Reddy launched the Telangana Praja Samiti espousing the cause of a separate state. The agitation intensified and turned violent with students in the forefront of the struggle and about 300 of them were killed in violence and police firing that ensued. * Following several rounds of talks with leaders of the two regions, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi came up with an eight-point plan
on April 12, 1969. Telangana leaders rejected the plan and protests continued under the aegis of Telangana Praja Samiti. * In 1972, Jai Andhra movement started in Andhra-Rayalaseema regions as a counter to Telangana struggle. * On September 21, 1973, a political settlement was reached with the Centre and a 6-point formula put in place to placate people of the two regions. * In 1985, employees from Telangana region cried foul over appointments in government departments and complained about injustice done to people of the region. The then Telugu Desam Party government, headed by N T Rama Rao, brought out a Government Order to safeguard the interests of Telangana people in government employment. * Till 1999, there was no demand from any quarters for division of the state on regional lines. * In 1999, Congress demanded creation of Telangana state. Congress was then smarting under crushing defeats in successive elections to the state Assembly and Parliament with the ruling Telugu Desam Party in an unassailable position. * Yet another chapter opened in the struggle for Telangana when Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao, who was seething over denial of Cabinet berth in the Chandrababu Naidu government, walked out of TDP and launched Telangana Rashtra Samiti on 27 April, 2001. * Following pressure applied by Telangana Congress leaders, the Central Working Committee of Congress in 2001 sent a resolution to the then NDA government seeking constitution of a second States Re-organisation Commission to look into Telangana state demand, which was rejected by the then Union Home Minister L K Advani saying smaller states were neither viable nor conducive to integrity of the country.
*TRS started gradually building the movement for a separate state. * Congress forged an electoral alliance with TRS by promising to create Telangana state. Congress came to power in 2004, both in the state and at the Centre, and TRS became part of the coalition governments at both places. *** Protesting delay in carving out the separate state, TRS quit the coalition governments in the state and at the Centre in December 2006 and continued an independent fight. * In October 2008, TDP changed its stance and declared support for bifurcation of the state. * TRS launched an indefinite hunger-strike on 29 November, 2009 demanding creation of Telangana. The Centre budged and came out with an announcement on 9 December, 2009 that it was initiating the process for formation of Telangana state. * But the Centre announced on 23 December, 2009 that it was putting Telangana issue on hold. This fanned protests across Telangana with some students ending their lives for a separate state. The Centre then constituted a five-member Committee on 3 February, 2010, headed by former judge Srikrishna, to look into statehood demand. The Committee submitted its report to the Centre on 30 December, 2010. * Telagana region witnessed a series of agitations like the Million March, Chalo Assembly and Sakalajanula Samme (general strike) in 2011-12 while MLAs belonging to different parties quit from the House. * With its MPs from Telangana upping the ante, Congress made Union Home Ministry to convene an all-party meeting on December 28, 2012 to find an amicable solution to the crisis.
The politics of separation
Why Telangana does not justify
Gorkhaland and Bodoland

Telangana should not open a pandoras box of new state demands.
Arlene Chang Aug 1, 2013
ew Delhi: A day after the Congress Working Committee acceded to the demand to divide Andhra Pradesh, experts say that Telangana is a unique case and does not offer justification for others seeking a separate state.
also for administrative process. But, Im against the way in which it has happened for narrow political calculus reasons, Sheth said. This will certainly open more doors to increased demands for many more states. However, each demand has to be dealt with its own merit, said KG Suresh, senior fellow and editor at Vivekanand International Foundation, a Delhi-based think-tank. Just because we have created Telangana, doesnt mean that everyone demanding a state should get one. Politicians wanting a state for their own motivations, should not be entertained. Both Suresh and Sheth support the creation of smaller states but urge caution in recognising such claims. I understand decentralization where we much have small viable states, but this is not a good way to do it. The formation of states has to be seen on each ones merit, a second reorganization commission should be formed to look into this issue and there must be various consultations and discussions by the government before any state is formed, Sheth told Firstpost. Suresh argues that Telanganas claim to statehood was strong for several unique reasons. For one, Telangana was on its own before being merged with Andhra Pradesh in 1956. The decision to grant it statehood is not a bifurcation or the carving of a new state, it is a demerger, said Suresh. Moreover, the demand for statehood enjoyed strong grassroots support and not just politicians with ulterior motives. When Telangana was merged with the state of Andhra in 1956 to form Andhra Pradesh, specific provisions and allocations were given to
Following the Telangana decision on Tuesday, politicians like Mayawati and groups like the Bodoland Peoples Front and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) have revived their demand for separate states. While Mayawati has said that Uttar Pradesh should be split into four smaller states, Hagrama Mohilary of the Bodoland Peoples Front met with home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, intensifying their demand for Bodoland. The GJM has also called for a 72hour bandh in Darjeeling. Prof. DL Sheth, Honorary Senior Fellow and former Director of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in Delhi said that the creation of Telangana was bound to have wide ramifications and add to instability in the country for the way it has happened. The state per se will be viable economically and
Telangana. But these provisions got diluted over the years and the people there got disenchanted, he said, adding, Over 75 percent of the revenue of the state came from Hyderabad originally part of Telangana, yet, only 1/3 was spent on Telangana. Even in government employment people from Telangana were far and few. This is a mass level movement and so to that extent the demand for Telangana is justified, Suresh said. Other claims to statehood may be popular, but they are not as strong for other reasons. As far as Gorkhaland is concerned, we cannot give in to the demands of everyone without assessing the fallout of it. Ok, a group of Nepalese
immigrants have settled in an Indian region over generations and they have now start demanding a separate state. But by that logic, tomorrow Bangladeshis in Assam will begin doing the same. So we have to look at each case and not open a pandoras box in dealing with this issue, Suresh. said He is also sceptical about Mayawatis proposal to divide Uttar Pradesh. Mayawati for her own convenience has asked for splitting the state. These kinds of demands dont have a legacy of problems, its only for the politicians convenience, Suresh said. Sardar Patel worked very hard to integrate India, we cannot go back to splitting it into 500 provinces, he said.
Why Omar Abdullah is so strongly against the creation of Telangana

In Jammu and Kashmir, a similar demand to create a new state of Jammu has been sustained for years, while Ladakh has been seeking Union Territory status.
Sameer Yasir, July 31, 2013 hen asked about the creation of Telangana, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, warned that creating a separate state in the backdrop of an agitation was a dangerous thing. However, his concern over the formation of separate states may not extend to the whole nation, but just a particular agitation in his own state.
The decision by the Congress party endorsing the creation of Telangana as the Indias 29th state came after years of street protests, hunger strikes and even suicides by the activists seeking the separate state. In Jammu and Kashmir, a similar demand to create a new state of Jammu has been sustained for years, while Ladakh has been seeking Union Territory status. On 16 July, Jammu-based party, the Jammu State Morcha, even submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minster Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde. The party while supporting the creation of Telangana, demanded the splitting of Jammu and Kashmir and the creation of a separate Jammu state. The party cited the prosperity and economic development of smaller states, and said they were governed much better in comparison to the larger states.
Speaking yesterday to reporters in Srinagar, Abdullah said that the decision of creating the separate state of Telangana could act as incentive to those agitating for similar demands from other parts of the country. He made no attempt to conceal his fears that the move may bolster a similar demand from the Jammu region. An impression is going out that an agitation can lead to creation of a new state, be it in Bundelkhand, Maharashtra, Gorkhaland or in our state. What will you tell people of Jammu agitate for seven or eight years and you will get a separate state? he said.
The carving out of a new Jammu state out of the present Jammu and Kashmir is an extremely genuine and viable demand of the people of Jammu region, Varinder Gupta, Chairman of Jammu State Morcha told Firstpost. We have infrastructure and economic viability needed for a separate state. And most important of all, the discrimination meted to us by the Kashmir politicians would end, he said. The Jammu State Morcha (JSM) first came into limelight during the 2008 unrest in the state. It played a major role in the economic blockade of the Kashmir valley by aiding the closure of the national highway.
However, the party has been around for a little over a decade. The party was originally floated by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh when its leaders met in Kurukhsetra and passed a resolution in support of a separate Jammu state in 2000. At the time, the BJP and its state unit were hesitant to come out openly in support of dividing the state on communal lines. It eventually overcame its hesitation,and the BJP engaged in a seat sharing agreement with the JSM for the 2002 assembly elections for all 37 seats in Jammu region. The decision proved to be a costly one for the BJP, with the JSM dividing its votes in places where it fielded its own proxy candidates. Both the parties won only one seat each. The party was subsequently wound up by the RSS, only to be revived by Jammu University professor and the present Chairman of the party, Varinder Gupta. Parties backing a separate Jammu had managed to build up enough pressure during the 2008 Amarnath land row to result in support from other groups. The moderate faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and Muslim social outfits said that they had no objection to some Hindu organisations being granted their demand of a separate Jammu state. In a meeting in Srinagar, the Hurriyat had said the demand was acceptable if a separate state was carved out of the two and a half districts which had a Hindu majority. However, political analysts in valley arent in favour of the JSM and say if the state were to be divided on the basis of religious lines, it would be a disastrous and dangerous decision.
The division of the state on the religious lines would undermine the thousands of years of Kashmiriyat where people from every religion have lived in serenity and tolerance. It would undermine the secular character of the state, Ajaz Ahamd, a political science lecturer, at the university of Kashmir told Firstpost. But the increasing demand for a separate Jammu state is not restricted to smaller parties like the JSM alone. In 2010, the then Congress health minster, Sham Lal Sharma, demanded a separate Jammu state while sharing the stage with the J&K Congress chief Saifuddin Soz. Some people ask for greater autonomy, others for self-rule and arouse separatist feelings. If they parrot these slogans then it better for Jammu to seek statehood, said Lal. Jammu is self-reliant and can sustain on its own. Balwant Singh Mankotia, a vocal JKNPP lawmaker from Udhampur district told weekly magazine Kashmir Life in a 2012 interview that voices in favour of a separate state of Jammu were gaining momentum. Presently, we feel that in Jammu, voices in favour of a separate state are gaining momentum. Our party is trying to pacify the things by saying that the state should not get divided. But if the discrimination which is going on and the aspirations of both the regions are not taken seriously, the day is not far when the separation voices supporting two state theory will get stronger and stronger, he said Whether the formation of Telangana becomes a reality or not only time will tell, but in Jammu and Kashmir, the people are already bracing for its repercussions in the conflict-ridden state.
Telangana: People, netas want

small states, not for same reasons
Reasons why people and political parties support division of states are very different.
FP Staff Aug 1, 2013
ongress leader Digvijaya Singh, in a bid to justify the division of Andhra Pradesh, said that the bifurcation of a state was as heartbreaking as the splitting of a family. However, he added somberly, When the time comes, it has to be done.
rate states and why political leaders oppose or back them are vastly different. Heres a rough list of reasons why there are several statehood demands in India and why politicians selectively back them. 1. Language is not always the most important unifying element Several of the statehood demands have risen from states whose boundaries were redrawn in 1956 as a part of the drive to reorganise states linguistically. The move was made by the government of India based on the assumption that a common spoken language would also mean cultural similarities and hence would make governance easier. However, what the government overlooked then, was the fact that language was not the only aspect of cultural bonding between several large communities of people. The biggest example of the same is probably Telangana and Andhra, which was merged to make Andhra Pradesh. Kingshuk Nag, in an editorial on The Times of India, traces the roots of the demand for a separate Telangana and points out that though Andhra and Telangana spoke slightly different versions of the same language Telugu, they were economically and sociologically two disparate communities of people. Nag writes: Coupled with this cultural disconnect were the different endowments of the two people. Under the Madras presidency during British rule, the people of Andhra were educated in English, but the Nizams state that governed the Telangana region used Urdu as the medium of instruction and administration. Consequently, Hyderabad, which originally belonged to Telangana turned into a seat of power
The irony of Singhs emphasis on an appropriate time cant be overemphasized, but, the greater irony in Singhs statement probably lies in the fact that he chose to align two disparate and disagreeing groups of people as one family. While the analogy might be proof of Singhs penchant for patriotic rhetoric, it indicates how politicians dismiss history when it is convenient. Most people in Andhra Pradesh and others who took interest in the states politics are acutely aware of the fact that people from the 10 districts that comprised Telangana were never a willing part of Andhra Pradesh. Also, had it not been for Congress bleak future in the polls, the party may not have shifted gears so soon on the issue of a split. Evidently, the reasons why people want sepa-
and prosperity because it was a biggest township in the region. The people from Andhra who thanks to sophisticated irrigation systems created by the British prospered from agriculture and migrated to Hyderabad and bought large properties. Being adept at English, they also landed government jobs. On the other hand, the people from Telangana were left out of this development spin thanks to their lack of wealth, skills and English educations because of the years spent struggling under the Nizam. The demand for Telangana, for its people, therefore stemmed not just from a clamour for ethnic glory. It was also an effort to reclaim economic opportunities and political voice that passed by them following the merger. A close look at the stir to separate Vidarbha from Maharashtra, reveals similar strains of strife. In an article called Why Vidarbha State, writer RL Pitale, points out that Vidarbha was made a part of Maharashtra with the promise that each part of the state will be paid attention equally. Pitale writes about the joining of eight Marathi-speaking states from Madhya Pradesh to Maharashtra: It was hoped that people speaking the same language will form cohesive units for rapid and balanced development. But the history of economic development of Maharashtra during the last 50 years has proved otherwise. Some areas, especially Vidarbha, have been systematically neglected. Pitale says, that though a Expert Committee headed by Prof. V.M. Dandekar was formed in 1983, it took the Maharashtra government ten years to take notice of its findings, which indicated severe government and political ignorance. The Vidarbha Statutory Development Board was formed in 1994 to make sure that the regions development is not neglected. Nearly, two decades on, Vidarbha is one of the most poverty-stricken districts in the country with severe drought, high number of farmer suicides and a fast disintegrating cotton growing industry. So when voices rose demanding statehood
for Vidarbha, they pointed at the Maharashtra governments lopsided political priorities and asserted that a separate state will not leave Vidarbha at the mercy of Maharashtra. The region, argued people, would then witness holistic development. 2. Ethnic pride The Gorkhas trace their origins to forefathers in Nepal. They captured large territories in North Eastern India in the eighteenth century and gradually became a part of India. The demand for a separate Gorkhaland surfaced back in 1980s and has sporadically gained strength. An article titled Why Gorkhaland? points out that the Gorkhas demand for a separate state stem from their systemic exclusion from Indias largely majoritarian political discourses. The Gorkhas have been repeatedly labelled as outsiders and their population being small, also denied a strong political voice. Alliances with national parties have always proven tricky as their demands have been given wind as and when it suited the bigger political entities in the country. Explaining the reason why Gorkhlanad is needed, the article points out: The demand for Gorkhaland is basically a question of the Gorkha Indian political identity- as the specter of alien ness, foreigners and evictions continues to hunt the Indian Gorkhas even today. Why did leaders in the past like Deputy Prime Minister Vallabhbhai Patel doubt our sincerity and patriotism or for that matter Prime Minister Moraji Desia call our language a foreign language? Even today, responsible leaders in Bengal like Sri Ashoke Bhattacharjee and writers like Sri Sumanta Sen irresponsibly label us outsiders. This desire to see their political voice as one that carries weight in the dominant narratives in the country drives a movement like the Gorkhaland movement. The stark ethnic disparity, the unequal development between the rest of the Bengal and the areas that fall under Gorkhlaad lend strength to a movement like this one. 3. Why politicians support divisions
The newest states in India Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Uttarakhand were created after the central governments succumbed to demands of agitating communities of people. While the division of Chhattisgarh from Madhya Pradesh was done on caste lines with upper class Brahmins and Kurmis leading the struggle, Jharkhand was formed with the view of all-round development for the tribal population of Bihar who were being neglected by the state government. Uttarakhand comprised the Kumaoni Garhwal population of Uttar Pradesh who felt their culture was distinctly different from the rest of UP and hence they were most left in the cold when it came to development plans in the state. The three states were created in 2000 by the NDA government which was then in power in the country. Given that the political currents were still undecided about which direction to head towards, it was a clever decision by the BJP to play to the galleries and allow the formation of the new states, thereby pleasing a agitated electorate. The Congress then, like the BJP now, joined the chorus, playing on the Vajpayee governments initial reluctance to grant the separate statehood demands. The Congress, with its allies, came to power in the very next electoral season in 2004 and not opposing the split of states evidently paid off. Harihar Swarup had noted in an editorial back then:
Sadly, even the Congress(I), with long experience in governance, was swayed by populism and fell in line with the BJP without realising the long-term fallout. The Congress(I) is paying the price. The largest and most stable Congress-ruled State, Madhya Pradesh, has been split, and Chattisgarh, though ruled by the Congress, has become fragile for it the threat both within and without. The Economic Times had noted that as far as electoral math goes, the Congress might have just bolstered their prospects in Andhra Pradesh by separating Telangana. The latter, it noted, has a two percent more Muslim population a voter base that has been the most loyal to Congress. ET had reported: Sources said the population of Muslims in Telangana would go up by 2% while that of dalits would also increase if Kurnool and Ananthapur districts are made part of Telangana. The minorities and SCs are part of traditional Congress votebase and the party feels it would help its political cause. While there are a plethora of reasons that colour statehood demands in the country, there is little difference in why political parties seek the division of states. Or even oppose them. The NDA, back in 2000 tried to make a quick headway ahead of the Congress by creating three independent states. The Congress, it seems, is following the same rule book this time to save its government at the Centre.
Telangana effect: GJM calls indefinite
bandh in Darjeeling from Saturday

If there can be a Telangana state then why not a Gorkhaland? We are demanding that our 107-year-old legitimate demand (for a separate state) be fulfilled, GJM general secretary and spokesman Roshan Giri said.
PTI, July 31, 2013
arjeeling: An indefinite bandh has been called in Darjeeling Hills by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) from Saturday to press its demand for a separate Gorkhaland state, a day after Congress and its allies unanimously decided to create Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh.
the party, including three MLAs from the hills would leave for Delhi on Friday to meet the MPs of various parties and apprise them of the Gorkhaland demand. The six-member team would comprise Giri himself, Trilok Dewan (Darjeeling MLA), Harkabahadur Chetri (Kalimpong MLA), Rohit Sharma (Kurseong MLA), DK Pradhan and Amar Rai. We are carrying out a peaceful agitation through democratic means for statehood of Gorkhaland. If the state government represses it we will intensify our agitation We will continue our agitation at any cost, any sacrifice till we get our Gorkhaland, he said. He termed as untrue chief minister Mamata Banerjees allegation that Congress had instigated the Darjeeling agitation.
If there can be a Telangana state then why not a Gorkhaland? We are demanding that our 107-year-old legitimate demand (for a separate state) be fulfilled, GJM general secretary and spokesman Roshan Giri told reporters after a party core committee meeting here on Wednesday. Darjeeling was never in West Bengal. It was under Sikkim and Bhutan in pre-independence India. Therefore, there is no question of division of Bengal, he said. GJM members in Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), from which its CEO and GJM chief Bimal Gurung quit on Tuesday, would continue for now and six members of
Congress did not instigate us The Gorkhas are very peace-loving people. But we have not been given any recognition and no state was given to us despite our sacrifices in the various wars. Today we have no identity nobody, not the Centre nor the state gave it to us, Giri said. Giri blamed the West Bengal government for compelling Gurung to quit as GTA CEO. The state government did not allow GTA to function properly and never handed key departments like home and finance to it, he said. The GJM members in GTA were ready to quit anytime, anyday as desired by Gurung, he said. Referring to the indefinite bandh call, he said tea and cinchona factories would be allowed to
function normally. There would be no bandh in the hills by GJM for two days from Thursday and students of boarding schools and tourists, including foreigners, should leave during the time, Giri added. The third-day of the Darjeeling Hills bandh by GJM on the statehood issue passed off peacefully amidst patrolling by IRB and RAF personnel. Additional security personnel were posted at the district magistrates office, while two companies of CRPF have been kept on standby, official sources said.
Shops and markets remained closed, as did educational institutions, banks, government and private offices. Vehicles, however, plied as the bandh sponsors allowed their movement. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena has called a two-day bandh in Siliguri from August one opposing the Gorkhaland demand. The party said it will prevent movement of food stuff to the hills from Siliguri, which acts as the gateway to the Darjeeling Hills and Sikkim, during the duration of the bandh.
Joy and anger: reactions to Telangana
The long wait from 1948-2013:

An old Telangana activist speaks
One of Telanganas oldest activists, Burugula Narsing Rao, spoke to Firstpost on a number of issues ranging from why it was important to have a separate state for Telangana to the battle for Hyderabad and the future of Indias 29th state.
DVL Padma Priya, Aug 1, 2013 yderabad: Burugula Narsing Rao belongs to the generation of Telangana activists who have seen it all; from the Razakar movement leading to the police firing in 1948, to the formation of Andhra Pradesh and the initial Telangana separation movement through the 1950s and 1960s, and the resurgence of the Telangana movement of the last decade.
Hyderabad State into the Indian Union. Initially I was part of the Visalandhra movement which was aimed at making Andhra Pradesh a separate State based on its language. I was part of it for three-four years when i felt disillusioned by the movement as i would see first-hand how the Telanganites were discriminated by the Andhra people, he said. Rao spoke to Firstpost on a number of issues ranging from why it was important to have a separate state for Telangana to the battle for Hyderabad and the future of Indias 29th state. Why Telangana wanted a separate state The region (Telangana) has always been an oppressed region. First, under the Nizams rule where the majority people were ridiculed on the basis of their language, culture and religion. The very fact that question of Telangana has been there for so many years is a reflection of this ongoing suppression, he says pointing out the separation of Telangana today is a perfect example of why States with two different backgrounds should not be bought together on the basis of language. Even during the freedom movement, there were many leaders who felt that both the regions should not be together but Congress had made up its mind to carve states on linguistic basis. Interestingly, he says one of the first State Reorganisation Committee s(SRC) (Fazal Ali Commission) had recognised the disparities between
And when Telangana was finally formed, Rao says he heaved a sigh of relief. According to him, the separation of Telangana was an inescapable inevitability- something that should have happened when Indias states were first being formed. Hailing from a village in the Mahbubnagar district of Telangana region, Burugula Narsing Rao was born into a political family. His uncle Burugula Ramakrishna Rao was the first Chief Minister of erstwhile Hyderabad State and had led a movement against the Nizam for the merger of
both the regions culturally and economically and suggested that Telangana State be kept separated from the Andhra Pradesh region for a period of five years and that the choice should be left to the Telangana assembly if they wanted to become part of Andhra Pradesh. The absence of a common history between the two regions too is one of the reasons, according to him, why there never was any integration between the two regions. While Hyderabad and surrounding districts was under the Qutub Shahi rulers followed by Asif Jahi, the Andhra regions were under the Kakatiya rulers. Andhra Pradesh is the perfect example of how unless a political historical process is not rooted properly, it will fall apart, he says. The evolution of the Telangana movement Having been part of the movement from close quarters, Rao says that the last decades Telangana movement was propelled by the masses and people from different quarters of the society. In the 1960s it was the middle class, students and the employees who were at the forefront of the agenda as they felt discriminated. It had its impact on rural areas but not as much as it has been in the recent past. The canvas now has been much wider and has engulfed all sections of the society. This way the recent movement has been very unique with everyone from doctors to engineers to farmers are part of it in some form or the other, he says. The fight for Hyderabad Ask him about the fight for Hyderabad and he laughs. What is 45 years in the history of a nation is not a long time at all. Nobody is asking anyone to leave. Surely, new vested interests wont be allowed to entrench here. But the fight seems to be purely economical. And when Andhra leaders say development what sort of development are they talking about? What have they contributed towards
especially in the case of industries which create employment? One has to remember that Hyderabad in 1956 had industrial infrastructure even then. One of the biggest issues the Andhra region faces is the lack of a city the size of Hyderabad and this will continue to plague them in the coming years. The Naxal issue Despite the Home Ministry expressing concerns over naxalism, the octogenarian is of the belief that the concerns are overrated and misplaced. The naxal movement is no longer as strong as it was a few decades ago. Yes, the first armed struggle against the Nizam was led by those from Telangana and this gave rise to other movements such as the naxal movement but the situation is quite different now. Youngsters have more opportunities now and the people dont want any more tension. The last decade has affected those from the region psychologically and they are now relieved and want to move ahead with their lives. The future of Telangana state Rao is optimistic of the political future of the Telangana state and says that there will be political stability for sure. Going forward he feels that the new leadership should ensure that the promises on the basis of which Telangana was formed should be kept and delivered to the people of the region who have fought for it for so long. Invest in productive industries and develop agriculture in the region. Telangana region has a vast network of tanks, streams and bunds. These should be revived. Similarly, the government should develop small scale industries and cottage industries. The weaving villages of Telangana such as Sircilla, Pochampally, Gadwal etc should be revived and supported, he says. Mr Narsing Rao believes that Telangana has the potential to carve an identity for itself and embrace its culture wholeheartedly.
after five-decades of struggle
Telangana supporters celebrate
Osmania University students celebrate after the announcement of the separate Indian state of Telangana in Hyderabad on July 30, 2013. AFP
Indias ruling Congress party approved a resolution July 30 to create a new state in the southeast amid fears the decision could spark violence in the region which includes IT hub Hyderabad. AFP
Telangana supporters cheer as they celebrate after the announcement of the separate state of Telangana at their party headquarters in Hyderabad. Reuters
Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) party president and Member of Parliament, K. Chandra Sekhar Rao, is greeted by supporters after the announcement. AFP
Telangana: Cos welcome end of uncertainty, but warn of pitfalls

Companies in Andhra Pradesh have by and large welcomed the decision to bifurcate the state saying the move brings about stability, ending long prevailing ambiguities in the region.
FP Editors Jul 31, 2013 yderabad: Companies in Andhra Pradesh have by and large welcomed the decision to bifurcate the state saying the move brings about stability, ending long prevailing ambiguities in the region. The transition is expected to be smooth, as the government appears to have been working on the issue for a long time, said B Ashok Reddy, Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industries, Andhra Pradesh.
Suman Reddy, Vice-President and Managing Director, Pegasystems India, also was of the opinion that it is impossible to assess the longterm impact of the decision on Telangana right now. However, he hailed the end of uncertainty which should bring stability in Hyderabads business environment. Growth and expansion from the perspective of infotech MNCs investing in the state had been stalled or was relatively slow due to this issue which hopefully will resume after the decision is announced, Suman Reddy said. Dasarath Reddy, President of the Andhra Pradesh Real Estate Developers Association and Primus Developers said there may be a positive impact on real estate prices in Hyderabad due to the formation of Telangana. As there was suspense all these days, investment flow into Hyderabad was not up to the mark. With a clear picture emerging now, a positive sentiment will prevail and as real estate prices are cheaper in the city, activity will pick up now, Reddy said. The chief financial officer with an infrastructure company into construction, roads and power, has told the Economic Times that setting up of a new capital may need Rs 1 lakh crore of investments. This, he expects, to be a big business opportunity for infrastructure and construction companies. Smaller states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand have shown impressive
After dithering for nearly four years, the Congress and the UPA coalition unanimously endorsed the creation of a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh yesterday. We cannot tell about the impact immediately, but the ambiguity that was there so far has gone, Reddy told PTI. He does not expect any problems during the transition as committees have been formed to sort out some of the issues.
growth rates of some 10 percent a year and we hope both Telangana and Andhra states would also deliver similar growths, he has been quoted as saying. However, not all are happy. Another chief of a construction company fears that the bifurcation will actually reduce the states power to bargain with the Centre. It will be a disaster for Telengana and Andhra, he has warned. Concurring with this view is BVR Mohan Reddy, chairman and managing director of Infotech Enterprises. According to him, in a presentation to the Centre the Southern region the Confederation of Indian Industry had made it clear that only creating smaller states will not bring about development. However, the biggest hurdle for both the states will be to deal with the mistrust that prevails among the business men from Telengana region and Coastal Andhra, according to a report in the Business Standard. Those in the forefront of the Telangana movement consider businessmen-turned-politicians from coastal Andhra responsible for thwarting their dream, the report says.
However, prominent leaders of Telengana have assured safety to businesses owned by Coastal Andhraites in the region. According to the report, not before two years will clarity emerge on the policy front. And everything is dependent on the next leadership. A state with a vibrant city like Hyderabad requires a modern and a matured leadership to sustain and accelerate economic development, a senior bureaucrat has been quoted as saying in the report. Nobody expects investment to flow into Telengana that quickly. And a flight capital to Andhra is not going to happen either. We have built large manufacturing facilities here (Telengana) and cannot think of shifting them to Andhra state, a managing director of a large pharmaceutical company with roots in coastal Andhra has been quoted as saying in the ET report. For the central government, however, it is an uphill task now to deal with more such bifurcation demand from other regions, like Vidarbha and Gorkhaland. More years of agitations do not bode well for the economy.
Andhra: Ministers confront Kiran Kumar,
as protests take violent turn

Several Ministers from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema on Wednesday registered a strong protest with CM N Kiran Kumar Reddy over the decision on Telangana even as protests erupted in non-Telangana regions of the state against the contentious move.
yderabad: Several Ministers from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema on Wednesday registered a strong protest with Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy over the decision on Telangana even as protests erupted in non-Telangana regions of the state against the contentious move.
PTI, Aug 1, 2013 has announced its decision. We are still hopeful that the process (to create Telangana) will not go through, they said. Since last night, about a dozen MLAs belonging to the ruling party from Andhra-Rayalaseema claimed to have resigned their seats but sources in the Legislature Secretariat did not confirm having received any such letters. Widespread protests were witnessed in several parts of Andhra and Rayalaseema regions with people taking to streets, organising rallies, demonstrations and burning tyres and effigies of UPA leaders as part of the bandh being observed today by different outfits. Normal life was disrupted as educational institutions and commercial establishments remained closed and the services of state-run Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) were suspended in Kadapa, Chittoor, Visakhapatnam and Krishna. The agitators squatted on roads to prevent the buses from plying. Two people, including a home guard, reportedly committed suicide in Vizianagaram and Guntur districts protesting the move to divide the state. At some places like Eluru, incidents of violence were reported, with protestors attacking a private educational institution and government offices, damaging furniture and setting private vehicles on fire. Educational institutions remained shut across Andhra-Rayalaseema while lawyers boycotted
Several ministers from non-Telangana region, who had threatened to quit if the Congress decided to carve a new state out of Andhra Pradesh, met Reddy and at least one of them Erasu Pratap Reddy said he had already submitted his resignation to the party. A group of ministers including TG Venkatesh, Erasu Pratap Reddy, Ganta Srinivas and Pitani Satyanarayana met the Chief Minister in the afternoon and discussed the fallout of the party high commands decision. We (ministers and MLAs from the two regions) will meet again tomorrow and decide the course of action, Reddy and Venkatesh said after the meeting. Nothing has happened yet. Only the Congress
work at many places. Tension prevailed in Anantapur district after police lobbed teargas shells on Samaikhyandhra protesters who pelted them with stones. Hundreds of slogan-raising protesters took to streets and pelted stones on policemen near Arts College and other parts of Anantapur town, prompting the police to fire teargas shells. The situation is tense but under control. We had to fire teargas shells to disperse the protesters following stone pelting, a senior police official told PTI over phone from Anantapur town. The protesters also allegedly damaged statues of former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi at a few places, besides ransacking a Mandal Revenue office (MRO) in Anantapur, he said adding the agitators also attacked offices of BJP with stones and tried to lay siege to the residence of state revenue minister Raghuveera Reddy. The police chased away the protesters at many places in the town and some of them have also been taken into custody, he said. In Vijayawada, students gathered at squares and held road blockades to protest the decision to partition the state. President of Vijayawada Chamber of Commerce and Industry Velampalli Ramachandra Rao told PTI that commercial establishments were closed as traders supported the shutdown. Government employees also supported the bandh call. The Bar Association of Vijayawada appealed to its members not to attend courts. In Visakhapatnam, Samaikyandhra students Joint Action Committee and various other organisations held protests. Students JAC leader Lagudu Govinda, who launched a hunger strike on the Andhra University campus last night, said his agitation would continue till the Congress high command reversed its decision. In East Godavari, two platoons of paramilitary
forces and as many BSF battalions were deployed as a precautionary measure even as a total bandh was observed in the district, Superintendent of Police Ravikumar said. Some state-run buses were also damaged due to stone pelting following which five activists were rounded up, they said. Congress and TDP activists also clashed outside TDP office at Gokavaram bus stand in Rajahmundry but were dispersed later, they added. In Guntur town, the proponents of united Andhra, including Congress activists, organised rallies demanding revocation of the resolution adopted by the Congress Working Committee for carving out Telangana from Andhra Pradesh. Amid raging protests, Congress ministers and MLAs from Rayalaseema, who met this morning, demanded that the new capital be located in the Rayalaseema region. Kurnool (in Rayalaseema) was capital of Andhra state, but we sacrificed it for Hyderabad in AP. The state is being divided again. Hyderabad is developed. Now, it is not clear where the capital will be established. Our proposal is that we should get the capital, because we sacrificed, Law Minister E Pratap Reddy told reporters after the meeting. Unless the package for Rayalaseema is specifically told to us, we cannot accept this, he said. We will accept the new state only if we get our share of assured water (from river Krishna) and the new capital, one of them said. Meanwhile, Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu has asked the Centre to immediately constitute a committee of experts to assess the quantum of funds required to develop a new capital city for Andhra Pradesh. According to our rough estimates, a staggering Rs 4-5 lakh crore will be required to build a new capital and comprehensively create necessary infrastructure. The Centre should fund this and develop the new capital on par with Hyderabad, he said.
Vishakhapatnam resigns
P Ramesh Babu, a Congress legislator from Pendurthy Assembly constituency in the district, has resigned from his post to protest the Congress decision to form a separate Telangana state.
PTI, July 31, 2013
Telangana: Cong MLA from
isakhapatnam: P Ramesh Babu, a Congress legislator from Pendurthy Assembly constituency in the district, has resigned from his post to protest the Congress decision to form a separate Telangana state.
unanimously decided to create Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh, a momentous decision that came in the face of stiff resistance from leaders from non-Telangana region. The Congress Working Committee, the highest decision-making body, decided to recommend to the central government to form the 29th state which will comprise 10 districts. Hyderabad, considered the crowning jewel of the Telangana region, will be the joint capital of the newlyproposed state and the other regions Rayalaseema and Andhrafor a period of 10 years. A new capital for Andhra will be identified Seemandhra region within this period.
The MLA told PTI here today that he sent his resignation letter to Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar through fax last night. I am for united Andhra, Ramesh Babu said, adding that he resigned from his post as he was upset over his partys decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh and carve out Telangana as a separate state. The Congress and the UPA yesterday
Cong has betrayed for 9 yrs, it cannot be trusted

ujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has hit out at the Congress-led UPA government for timing the Telangana decision just before the crucial 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Though Modi welcomed the decision on Telangana by calling it victory of peoples power but he did not waste the opportunity to criticise the Congress for delaying the decision over the statehood for Telangana over all these years. Here is the full text of the Narendra Modis open letter: Dear Brothers and Sisters from all regions of Andhra Pradesh, Namaskaram! I am looking forward to interacting with all of you on 11th August at the Nava Bharath Yuva Bheri Public Rally in Hyderabad.
Modis open letter on Telangana:
During the public meeting at Hyderabad, I was hoping to share my thoughts on the issue of statehood for Telangana as well as on all of your concerns on a roadmap for all the regions of Andhra Pradesh. However, in the wake of the sequence of events, the Congress Party has done in the last few days what it shied away from doing in the last 9 years- to work overtime on a decision over Telangana. It is an undisputable fact that Congress Party has neither been consistent nor transparent in its conduct over the creation of a Telangana state. Thus, a Party and a Government that has betrayed the people on the issue of Telangana time and again can hardly be trusted on this issue this time around. It is equally true that the BJP has been forthcoming and transparent in its support for statehood to Telangana.
The BJP is the only party with the strongest record on the creation of small states. It maybe recalled that it was the NDA Government under the leadership of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee that created three new states of Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand (then known as Uttaranchal) and Jharkhand in 2000 thus giving a new ray of hope to the aspirations of the people in these areas. Friends, the same Congress party that won in 2004 on the promise of Telangana has played cynical games with the aspirations and sentiments of the people for nine long years. Now, at a time when there are only a few months left before the people of this country vote again, the Congress Party is rushing to announce Telangana. This raises serious concerns on the seriousness and intentions of the Congress. After winning handsomely in Andhra Pradesh under the leadership of Dr YS Rajashekhara Reddy in 2004 and 2009, the Congress has turned its back on this state since the former Chief Minister died. In December 2009, the then Home Minister Shri P Chidambaram announced the commencement of the process for statehood to Telangana only to be withdrawn hastily. The Congress party then sought to buy time by creating another committee on the question of Telangana. But, it remained indifferent to the collapse in administration, political violence and the unfortunate specter of suicides by youngsters of Telangana. Meanwhile, governance came to a standstill in Andhra Pradesh. While we welcome any forward movement on the issue of Telangana, we yet again ask how real is the intent of the Congress and the UPA Government this time around. I would like to pose the following questions to the Congress party leadership and the UPA Government. Question 1 Where is your homework in terms of creating consensus in your own party, within the Government and within all political parties on the issue of Telangana when you have been speaking in so many divergent voices ? Question 2 Unlike capital cities that became shared capitals by virtue of being on the bor-
der between two states, Hyderabad becomes a shared capital despite being located well within Telangana. Thus, this does not justify the logic of sharing a capital albeit for a short duration. This leaves scope for operational difficulties. Thus, how practical is it for a state to have a capital that does not lie neither within its boundaries nor along its borders? Question 3 What constructive measures have you taken to prepare the minds of the people of Andhra Pradesh and Rayalseema to welcome this decision on Telangana? What assurances have you provided to them so as to assuage their anxieties and to take them on board? Where is your political roadmap to creating this consensus among the people, all we have here is a technical process ? Question 4 What commitments are you prepared to make to the people of Telangana, who have already suffered severe trauma over your many betrayals, that you will not take them for a ride one more time? Question 5 Many youngsters of Telangana have committed suicide. Hyderabad as an investment destination has suffered, the state of Andhra Pradesh has slipped. The state once considered the rice bowl of India has seen agricultural slides making it a state with high farmer suicides. It is indeed ironical that the Congress Party has sought to hide itself behind committees, reports and futile deliberations instead of courageously facing the people of Andhra Pradesh. Neither the Congress President nor the Congress Vice President have set foot into Andhra Pradesh in recent years, despite the fact that Andhra Pradesh sent the highest MPs for the Congress both in 2004 and 2009. Will the Congress leadership not apologize to the people of Andhra Pradesh for treating them like doormats to suit the Congress political opportunism? BJPs Principles for a Meaningful Roadmap to all Regions of Andhra Pradesh We stand by our commitment to statehood for Telangana. We however believe that the Roadmap should be such that it is a win-win solution
to all the people of all regions. Statehood for one region should not be viewed as coming at the expense of another region. We believe that this is an Opportunity for us to develop all the other major Cities of Andhra Pradesh across all regions so Vishakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Guntur, Warangal, Karimnagar and Ongole, Anantpur Kurnool and Kadapa etc. all stand to gain. We respect the Constitution that Protects the Rights of all Citizens. The BJP will take every step to protect persons, families, businesses and assets of all the people of Andhra Pradesh living across regions irrespective where their roots may lie. We are committed to reviving the economy of all the regions of Andhra Pradesh. Law and Order, Political Stability and a Dynamic Policy Regime will be our priorities. BJP will ensure that the benefits of River Water will reach all regions and water resources sharing will be fair, just and equitable.
We are committed to restoring Trust and Confidence once again of all regions There shall be no more cynical political games and no more betrayals. We are committed to preserving the shared Telugu cultural heritage of all regions that shall in no way be affected by what is merely an administrative boundary. Telugu Culture and Pride shall remain boundary-less. This may be the first time a state formed on Linguistic basis is being proposed to be divided. It is an emotional moment. Even at this time as the state is being divided, to respect the popular sentiment we bow our heads in respect to martyrs like the late Shri Potti Sreeramulu who sacrificed their lives for the creation of Andhra Pradesh. Inspired by their memory we commit ourselves to work for the progress of all Telugu people in each of these regions. Yours, Narendra Modi
The battle for Hyderabad
next Chandigarh?
Despite the ten year sharing period for Hyderabad, will it ultimately end up becoming an union territory?
FP Staff Jul 31, 2013 he UPA government may have bitten the Telangana bullet, but the creation of the new state has raised a whole lot of new questions related to governance, resources and politics. Key among these questions is of course, the future of Hyderabad. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) together with its allies have decided that Hyderabad will be a shared capital for ten years and will go to Telangana afterwards. But is this stopgap measure too reminiscent of what happened to Chandigarh? The city was originally given to Punjab with the provision that it would be shared by Haryana and Punjab until Haryana constructed its own capital. However four decades later, with no new capital for Haryana, Chandigarh has become a united territory. Is that also destined to be the fate of Hyderabad? This was the question debated on CNN-IBNs Talking point hosted by Karan Thapar. The other panelists for discussion included political columnist Kalyani Shankar, leader of Telangana Jagruti, K Kavitha whose father K Chandrasekhar Rao has been at the forefront of the Telangana struggle, and Andhra Pradesh Congress MLA, L Rajagopal. Shankar was of the opinion that it was a foregone conclusion that Hyderabad would be turned into a union territory and said that the ten year sharing period was just a Congress ploy to buy time. No one knows what will happen in ten years time. Who will be in power. But
Will Hyderabad become the
I think it will go the Chandigarh way because Andhra has put in a lot of money and investments into the city, she said. And according to K Kavitha, this is precisely what pro-Telangana leaders were worried about. There are concerns about this shared capital, administration, revenue, law and order who will have that? Unless Congress spells out what common means we wont be completely happy, she said. She also said that the any future alliance between the Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti would hinge on the finer details of the new state of Telangana. What happens to the administration of Hyderabad has to be made clear to us. Let Telangana be a reality and then we will talk about it. A merger is a possibility, but it is a distant possibility as of now, she said. Meanwhile Congress MLA L Rajagopal who was also a part of the panel, exemplified the anger and dissent by the Congress Andhra Pradesh MLAs who have been opposing the creation of Telangana from the very outset. In an angry outburst he vowed that despite the CWC decision, Andhra Pradesh would not be divided and warned that the proposal would be shot down within the Andhra Pradesh assembly even if it got passed everywhere else. He later modified his statement to say that the process of democracy would ensure an unified Andhra Pradesh, but not before a furious debate on whether the CWC decision on Tuesday was nothing but an eyewash.
Andhra capital in Rayalaseema region

Ministers and Congress MLAs from Rayalaseema raised a demand that the new capital of Andhra Pradesh be located in Rayalaseema region, implying Kurnool town.
PTI, Aug 1, 2013 yderabad: Ministers and Congress MLAs from Rayalaseema raised a demand that the new capital of Andhra Pradesh be located in Rayalaseema region, implying Kurnool town.
Cong ministers demand new
announced its decision. We are still hopeful that the process to create Telangana state will not go through, the ministers said. On the other hand, AP Rural Development Minister Dokka Manikya Varaprasad and Animal Husbandry Minister P Viswaroop said separately that their resignations were not a solution to the issue. Dokka added there was no need for anyone to resign as the Congress high command had taken the decision. Meanwhile, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu asked the Centre to immediately constitute a committee of experts to assess the quantum of funds required to develop a new capital city for Andhra Pradesh after the formation of Telangana state. According to our rough estimates, a staggering Rs 5 lakh crore will be required to build a new capital and create necessary infrastructure. The Centre should fund this and develop the new capital on par with Hyderabad, Naidu said. In related incidents, protestors staged a protest at the camp residence of Union Textiles Minister Kavuri Sambasiva Rao in Eluru and protests were also held at the houses of many state ministers and Congress MPs demanding their resignations forthwith. Overall, the situation was under control as we deployed adequate forces in vulnerable areas, an Additional Director General of Police said.
We will accept the new state (Telangana) only if we get our share of assured water from the Krishna river and the new capital, they said. A group of ministers, including T G Venkatesh, Erasu Pratap Reddy, Ganta Srinivas and Pitani Satyanarayana met Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday afternoon and discussed the fallout of the Congress Working Committees decision to endorse Telangana. We ministers and MLAs from the two regions will meet again tomorrow and decide the course of action, Erasu Pratap Reddy and T G Venkatesh said after the meeting. Nothing has happened yet. Only Congress has
Telangana effect: Brace for a rise
in Hyderabad property prices

Despite competitive capital values compared with other metros, the Hyderabad real estate market was down in the dumps for the last couple of years with builders holding back projects and property buyers holding out on purchase decisions due to political instability over the bifurcation issue.
Sunainaa Chadha Aug 1, 2013
ow that the creation of a separate Telangana state is announced, real estate developers in Hyderabad can heave a sigh of relief. Despite competitive capital values compared with other metros, the Hyderabad real estate market was down in the dumps for the last couple of years with builders holding back projects and property buyers holding out on purchase decisions due to political instability over the bifurcation issue.
According to property research firm Knight Frank Hyderabad will take more than two years to absorb the current unsold inventory of 33,000 housing units. Nearly 8,500 units were launched in the second half of financial year 2013, showing an increase of almost 33 percent compared with the second half of financial year 2012. However, nearly 28% of the total launched units till date are unsold. Hence a steady absorption rate is required to sustain the prices. Largely an end-user market, Hyderabad has witnessed an extended slump due to the prevailing political uncertainties. Weakened consumer sentiments have affected the market deeply with no signs of recovery since the past two years, said Knight Frank India chief economist and director research Samanthak Das. But now that the prolonged indecision has finally come to an end, developers expect Hyderabads construction sector to once again get back on the growth trajectory.
While other cities entered a resurgence phase after the 2008 slump, recovery in Hyderabad was marred by political uncertainty and characterised by fewer launches and declining capital values. Since the residential sector is highly sentiment driven, the Hyderabad market failed to attract buyers.
On Tuesday, the Congress, which is the dominant partner in the ruling United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, gave its nod to carve out a separate Telangana state from the existing state of Andhra Pradesh. This makes the creation of Telangana now a mere formality as almost every political party of significance in the state is agreed on the demand. This brings to an end the political uncertainty that has gripped Hyderabad for over four years
now and prevented the Hyderabad real estate market from growing in line with real estate markets in other competing cities such as Bengaluru, Pune and Chennai. Residential capital values in Hyderabad are yet to cross their H1 2008 peaks whereas they have crossed those levels in most of the top 7 cities of India, said Crisil Research in a report today. The fact that the city will become the joint capital for the next 10 years is also encouraging for its real estate market since it implies there will be no sudden pull-outs by investors and developers. In other words, the prices will move up. Also, people are going to stay put in Hyderabad, after division, the real estate demand will continue and would only increase with the absence of uncertainty. The decision is good for the Hyderabad real estate market, as it has been hanging fire for the last 3-4 years. This state of affairs had given rise to a lot of doubt in the minds of residential end users, investors as well companies that were considering Hyderabads for its unique business potential. Investors who had been playing with the notion of pulling out of Hyderabad because of the unresolved political climate there will now have the requisite level of assurance that they had made the right decision, and more investments will now pour in. All said and done, this decision has been long awaited and will prove to be a game-changer for Hyderabad real estate., said Sandip Patnaik, Managing Director Hyderabad, Jones Lang LaSalle India. Even Andhra Pradesh Real Estate Developers Association expects a positive impact on real estate prices in Hyderabad due to the formation of Telangana. As there was suspense all these days, investment flow into Hyderabad was not up to the mark. With a clear picture emerging now, a positive sentiment will prevail and as real estate prices are cheaper in the city, activity will pick up now, the associations president Dasarath Reddy Reddy was qupted as saying by PTI. The land price along outer ring road will also
increase substantially since base rates are low even now, in most parts. .Exclventures, a real estate advisory and research firm expects land prices to triple along Outer Ring Road from the current Rs 1 crore to Rs 3 crore. While there wont be any drop in prices as prices here are already at rock bottom compared with other metros, a short-term stagnation in the realty market cannot be ruled out. It is unlikely that end-user demand will increase immediately. However, within the next 2-3 months, demand will start picking up considerably and this will lead to better appreciation in many areas. The locations which will see the fastest uptick include those on and around Outer Ring Road, the CBD area of Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills, and areas such as Gachibowly, HiTec City, Kukatapally, Miyapur and Chandan Nagar, said JLLs Patnaik. Prime residential locations of Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills in Hyderabad have already seen an increase of about 7-10% during FY13 due to limited supply. Following the resolution of the Telangana issue, Crisil expects residential capital values to grow at a faster pace in 2013 and 2014 vis--vis 6-7 percent envisaged earlier. Even commercial realty is bound to see a boost as corporate clients who were earlier sitting on the fence will now feel encouraged to enter or expand in this market. During 2013 and 2014, with an increase in investor demand, we expect residential real estate demand to grow annually at 8-9 percent vis-vis a growth of 6-7 percent envisaged earlier. Capital values have already been on the rise in select pockets of the city (after bottoming out) since the last few quarters on the back of signals that the issue was close to a resolution, said Crisil. Commercial lease rentals are likely to increase only marginally in 2013 and 2014 due to a large planned supply of commercial office space, according to Crisil.
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It took five decades

but Telangana is born

India gets its 29th state

The politics of separation

Joy and anger: reactions to Telangana

The battle for Hyderabad

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India gets its 29th state

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Telanganas creation will take

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History lessons for Telangana:

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Why India needs 50 small states

Logic of Telangana is sound:

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more questions than answers

Why Telangana raises

Can Andhra Pradesh reinvent itself after losing Telangana?

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Why the Telangana struggle

wont end with statehood

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From 1948 to 2013: A brief history

of the Telangana movement

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The politics of separation

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Why Telangana does not justify

Gorkhaland and Bodoland

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Why Omar Abdullah is so strongly against the creation of Telangana

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Telangana: People, netas want

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Telangana effect: GJM calls indefinite

bandh in Darjeeling from Saturday

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Joy and anger: reactions to Telangana

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The long wait from 1948-2013:

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after five-decades of struggle

Telangana supporters celebrate

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Telangana: Cos welcome end of uncertainty, but warn of pitfalls

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Andhra: Ministers confront Kiran Kumar,

as protests take violent turn

Telangana: Cong MLA from

Cong has betrayed for 9 yrs, it cannot be trusted

Modis open letter on Telangana:

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The battle for Hyderabad

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Will Hyderabad become the

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Andhra capital in Rayalaseema region

Cong ministers demand new

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Telangana effect: Brace for a rise

in Hyderabad property prices