What's Telangana about:
1. Telangana would be the 29th state of Independent India.
2. The Telangana region comprises 10 districts: Hyderabad, Adilabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy, and Warangal.
3. Apart from Telangana, Andra Pradesh consists of two other parts namely Coastal Andra and Rayalaseema.
4. According to sources, violence that came along with the Telangana merger demand has consumed more than 1000 lives over last three years, which includes numerous cases of self immolation.
5. The sharing of the capital city Hyderabad had long been the bone of contention in the separation struggle.
6. Pro-Telangana people put forward a notion that 45% of the state income comes from Telangana but when it comes to utilization of funds, its share is only 28%.
7. Proponents of a separate Telangana state cite perceived injustices in the distribution of water, budget allocations, and jobs.
Less than four years after the UPA almost went back on its pledge to create Telangana, the Congress on Tuesday accepted one of the oldest demands in independent India for a separate state and asked the government to split Andhra Pradesh.
Pro-Telangana students celebrate at Osmania University in Hyderabad after Congress Working Committee endorsed a decision to create sgaeparate TelanGANAna state.
MPs who want a "united Andhra Pradesh" will meet in Delhi; the Congress MP from Guntur has already said he will quit. In Hyderabad, Congressmen will meet at the MLA's Quarters this evening, before heading out to talk to Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy. More resignations could be announced thereafter.
When they met him on Tuesday, Mr Reddy reportedly said that while the Congress' decision to carve out a separate Telangana may have upset them, as it did him, there will be no going back on it.
A message that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had also firmly handed to a group of these leaders who met her hours before the party's working committee announced the decision on Monday. She also reportedly instructed the Congress leaders to convince the people of Andhra Pradesh that a split would benefit all the regions as it would speed up development with the uncertainty over Telangana now over.
There were protests in the non-Telangana regions yesterday amid a bandh and more protests have been reported this morning in Vijaywada. Yesterday, protesters broke statues former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi and attacked Congress offices.
The Chief Minister has asked top officials and cops to ensure law and order. He has issued strict instructions that no force, not even rubber bullets, be used against protestors, but at the same time said that they must not be allowed to destroy public property.
The people of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema fear that the loss of the 10 districts that will be part of the new Telangana state, and particularly capital Hyderabad, will set them back economically by several decades. The Telangana region accounts for much of the state's resources and income
1. Telangana would be the 29th state of Independent India.
2. The Telangana region comprises 10 districts: Hyderabad, Adilabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy, and Warangal.
3. Apart from Telangana, Andra Pradesh consists of two other parts namely Coastal Andra and Rayalaseema.
4. According to sources, violence that came along with the Telangana merger demand has consumed more than 1000 lives over last three years, which includes numerous cases of self immolation.
5. The sharing of the capital city Hyderabad had long been the bone of contention in the separation struggle.
6. Pro-Telangana people put forward a notion that 45% of the state income comes from Telangana but when it comes to utilization of funds, its share is only 28%.
7. Proponents of a separate Telangana state cite perceived injustices in the distribution of water, budget allocations, and jobs.
'Why Telangana report was not discussed in Parliament':
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has questioned why the Union government did not table the Srikrishna Committee's report on Telengana before the Parliament for discussion.
Srikrishna Committee on Telangana or the Committee for Consultations on the Situation in Andhra Pradesh (CCSAP) was a committee headed by former chief justice BN Srikrishna to look into the demand for separate statehood for Telangana or whether to keep Andhra Pradesh united in its present form.
TDP MLA Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao, who is also the party's Krishna district president demanded that the union government reveal the status of the report.
Pro-Telangana students celebrate at Osmania University in Hyderabad after Congress Working Committee endorsed a decision to create sgaeparate TelanGANAna state.
The new state – that culminates a bloody agitation that cost hundreds of lives -- will have 10 districts including the city of Hyderabad. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will, however, have to share Hyderabad as a joint capital for 10 years.
Tuesday’s decision by the Congress Working Committee is the first step forward after the midnight dramatic announcement by former home minister P Chidambaram on 9 December 2009 promising to start the process. The Congress, however, developed cold feet.
As it ended the uncertainty on Tuesday with what could be a political masterstroke to check-mate its opponents ahead of the 2014 general elections, the developments went according to the script.
The UPA coordination committee first unanimously endorsed the move to divide Andhra Pradesh and the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision making body of the party, followed it up by unanimously passing a resolution, requesting the central government to “take steps in accordance with the Constitution of India to form a separate state of Telangana”.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi opened the meeting giving historical perspective of the issue. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh endorsed Gandhi’s views and said the move will help in the equitable development of all the regions of the state. Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who as party general held the charge of the state for more than two years, and his successor Digvijaya Singh gave details about their interactions at state and central levels.
Only three other CWC members spoke at the meeting. Mukul Wasnik raised the issue of Vidarbha, which is also one of the long-pending demands. His views were endorsed by his Maharashtra colleague Gurudas Kamat. Ambika Soni too spoke about her experiences in AP as in-charge general secretary.
The formation of Telangana will take some time but the bill to create the new state is expected to reach parliament in next 4-5 months, probably in winter session.
But the decision has not been smooth. The issue had vertically divided the Congress both in the state and the Centre and even security and intelligence agencies had raised concerns over the proposed move.
When it appeared that the Congress was reconciled to put the Telangana issue on the back-burner to give itself a breathing space till the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the party sprang a surprise a few months ago by stepping up its discreet preparation.
The top leadership came to the conclusion that Telangana is “emotionally disintegrated” and “only division could save” the party in the 2014 polls.
PM Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi during the CWC meeting on Telangana in New Delhi. (HT Photo/Sunil Saxena)
Till then, the broader thinking in the Congress was that the party stands to lose in the Telangana region even if it announced a separate state, but would gain in Andhra and Rayalseema parts of the state if it rejected or even delayed a decision.
Hyderabad, considered the crowning jewel of the Telangana region, will be the joint capital of the newly-proposed state and the other regions--Rayalaseema and Andhra--for a period of 10 years. A new capital for Andhra will be identified Seemandhra region within this period.
"It is resolved to request the Central government to take steps in accordance with the Constitution to form a separate state of Telangana within a definite timeframe," said a resolution passed at an hour-long meeting of the CWC.
The CWC meet followed a meeting of the UPA which also unanimously favoured formation of Telangana.
The CWC acknowledged that it "has not been an easy decision" but it was taken after the widest possible consultations and taking into account the chequered history of the demand for a separate state.
The decisions by the CWC and the UPA came after hectic consultations for the last over a week on creation of the 29th state of the country that will have a geographical area of 10 of the 23 districts of undivided Andhra Pradesh.
The Union Cabinet will meet on Thursday, apparently to consider formation of a Group of Ministers to go into economic issues on creation of the new state.
Students of Osmania University celebrate with a cake after Congress working committe and UPA endorsed the creation of a new state 'Telangana' in Hyderabad on July 30, 2013. (AP Photo)
This is the first decision of the UPA to form a new state in the last nine years.
Contrary to speculation that the new state could be named Rayala Telangana, including a couple of districts of Rayalaseema, the districts that will be part of the new state will be Adilabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahaboobnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy and Warangal besides Hyderabad.
At the moment the idea is to have 10 districts in Telangana but it will be for the Group of Ministers to consider demands for inclusion of more areas, AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh, incharge of Andhra Pradesh affairs in Congress, told a press conference after the CWC meeting.
Out of 42 Lok Sabha seats and 294 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana is likely to have 17 Lok Sabha seats and 119 Assembly seats.
The party, however, made it clear that no demand for creation of any other state would be considered as it emphasised that this case cannot be compared with any other.
This assertion comes against the backdrop of demands for creation of separate states of Vidarbha and Gorkhaland.
While TRS, which has been spearheading the demand for separate state, welcomed the decision, supporters of united Andhra Pradesh stepped up protests against division.
At the CWC meeting, the Prime Minister said the decision would help the entire Andhra region.
UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi gave a historical perspective on the issue to the CWC meeting in which Digvijay Singh moved the resolution.
It was adopted unanimously.
Like last week end, when indications emerged that the Congress was veering towards formation of Telangana, ministers and MPs belonging to the non-Telangana regions made last ditch efforts to convince the Congress President and the Prime Minister to have a rethink on the issue.
Andhra state, the first entity formed on linguistic basis, was created in 1953 from out of the erstwhile Madras Presidency with Kurnool as the capital.
News analysis: What next for Congress after Andhra-Telangana divorce?
News analysis: What next for Congress after Andhra-Telangana divorce?
With the passing of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, there was a merger of Hyderabad state and Andhra state to be called Andhra Pradesh from November 1, 1956.
Andhra Pradesh now has a population of over 8.5 crore.
The 2009 announcement, taken at the height of an indefinite fast by TRS leader K Chandrashekhar Rao, had ignited street protests in the non-Telangana regions and opposition from ministers, MLAs and leaders from within the party that forced the central government and the Congress leadreship to put the issue on hold.
The Centre held rounds of meetings with all parties from the state and set up a Commission under the chairmanship for Supreme Court Judge Justice Srikrishna, which had given a report suggesting various solutions.
Chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, who was opposed to the division of Andhra Pradesh and was said to be thinking in terms of resigning, was called for consultations. He attended the UPA meeting.
However, he dismissed reports of resignation as "rumours". Similarly, Congress ministers in the Union government and the MPs gave enough indications that they would follow the party line.
Students take out rally to protest proposed AP bifurcation:
Students from various educational institutions took out a rally here on Tuesday to protest the proposed bifurcation of the state.
Over 3,000 students including girls from various colleges, under Joint Action Committee banner, led by its convenor and youth leader Devineni Avinash staged 'rasta roko' near the Indira Gandhi municipal stadium in the city for over half-an-hour.
In the midst of mounting pressure from both pro and anti-Telangana leaders, the crucial Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting is scheduled this evening to take a final decision on the separate statehood issue.
The students' JAC asked the Union government not to concede the demand of bifurcating the state made by some political leaders for their "selfish motive" at the cost of crores of Telugu people, Avinash said.
They also demanded that the people's representatives from all political parties should resign from their posts as token protest against the proposed bifurcation.
A number of public and private sector employees from various organisations, trade union leaders and some advocates also joined the rally to support the students.
Political reactions on creation of Telangana:
HT POLL
As the country waited for the UPA to decide on the creation of Telangana, Hindustantimes.com ran a poll asking readers if creating more states weaken India or strengthen it. Sixty-seven percent of the respondents agreed saying creating more states will weaken the unity of the country. On the other hand, 26% of those who voted said that it will strengthen the nation. However, the rest 7% of them remained undecided.
PROTEST ON TODAY:
This morning, protesting students picketed the home of state minister Ganta Srinivas in Vishakhapatnam, demanding that he should resign. Similar incidents have happened with ministers in Tirupati and Vizianagram.
MPs who want a "united Andhra Pradesh" will meet in Delhi; the Congress MP from Guntur has already said he will quit. In Hyderabad, Congressmen will meet at the MLA's Quarters this evening, before heading out to talk to Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy. More resignations could be announced thereafter.
When they met him on Tuesday, Mr Reddy reportedly said that while the Congress' decision to carve out a separate Telangana may have upset them, as it did him, there will be no going back on it.
A message that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had also firmly handed to a group of these leaders who met her hours before the party's working committee announced the decision on Monday. She also reportedly instructed the Congress leaders to convince the people of Andhra Pradesh that a split would benefit all the regions as it would speed up development with the uncertainty over Telangana now over.
There were protests in the non-Telangana regions yesterday amid a bandh and more protests have been reported this morning in Vijaywada. Yesterday, protesters broke statues former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi and attacked Congress offices.
The Chief Minister has asked top officials and cops to ensure law and order. He has issued strict instructions that no force, not even rubber bullets, be used against protestors, but at the same time said that they must not be allowed to destroy public property.
The people of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema fear that the loss of the 10 districts that will be part of the new Telangana state, and particularly capital Hyderabad, will set them back economically by several decades. The Telangana region accounts for much of the state's resources and income
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