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Proposed Telangana State Formation Process History

admin | August 25, 2011 | 0 Comments

On December 9, 2009, P. Chidambaram, the Union Minister of Home Affairs announced that the Indian government would start the process of forming a separate Telangana state, pending the introduction and passage of a separation resolution in the Andhra Pradesh assembly. KCR thus ended his 11 day fast, saying from his hospital bed that this was a “true victory of the people of Telangana.”

Pro-Telangana supporters celebrated the central government decision while those from the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions (Andhra region) protested. In fact, within a short time of the Home Minister’s declaration, sensing the public mood, MLAs from the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions (Andhra region) submitted their resignations in protest of the process of creation of a new state within Andhra Pradesh. By the 16th of December, at least 147 legislators (including Praja Rajyam Founder Chiranjeevi) and many Members of Parliament had resigned in protest of the Government’s decision to begin discussions on forming a new state of Telangana. 22 Ministers from the State Cabinet, all from Andhra (Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema) regions submitted their resignations.

On December 16, media reports confirmed that there was a split in the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) over the Telangana issue, with its leader Chiranjeevi as well as 16 out of 18 party MLAs(the remaining 2 hailed from Telangana) opposing the division of Andhra Pradesh while Telangana leaders in the party were unhappy with the shift in the party’s views.

On December 23, the Government of India announced that no action on Telangana will be taken until a consensus is reached by all parties. The TRS reacted by calling for another general strike on 24th Dec ’09, an action aimed at stalling the regional economy.

A Joint Action Committee (JAC) was formed with the pro-separation members of the major political parties. There were reports that members of the JAC had widely divergent approaches on the issue of a separate Telangana. Subsequently, Andhra (Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema) region MLAs started withdrawing their resignations while MLAs and ministers from Telangana started submitting their resignations, demanding the Centre to take immediate steps to initiate the process of bifurcating Andhra Pradesh. The Home minister had an all party meeting on the 5th of January to elicit views of all parties in the State. Further, on the advice of Congress party’s central leadership, all of the Ministers from Telangana withdrew their resignations. Rallies, hunger strikes, suicides continue, sometimes turning violent, through out Telangana to protest against the delay in bifurcating the State. The all-party Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) started relay hunger strikes and threatened resignations of all legislators on Jan 28, demanding the Centre to spell out its stand on separate Telangana and start the process of creating the State within a timeframe. The Union minister for Home Affairs P Chidambaram announced on January 28 that a Committee to examine the demand for a separate Telangana would be announced after a week. On the 3rd February the government announced the 5 member committee that would look into the issue of Bifurcation of state.

The Telangana Joint Action Committee said the agitations would continue until a Bill was passed in Parliament for the formation of a Telangana State. Agitation involved human chains, community kitchens on roads, amongst others On Feb 3rd JAC organized a longest human chain in India, a distance of 500 km, from north to South in Telangana.

The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has supported a separate Telangana state by giving the slogan, “Justice for Telangana and Telangana for Justice” The Jamaat with its student wing Students Islamic Organisation of India organized a large rally at Nizam college grounds on February 7, 2010.

On February 12, Central government announced Terms of Reference to B.N. Srikrishna Committee with a deadline of December 31, 2010. Telangana-JAC rejected the terms of reference saying that it “undid” Union home minister’s statement in New Delhi on December 9, 2009.

On February 16, Congress legislators from the Telangana region resigned from the Joint Action Committee due to “unilateral actions by KCR.

As of February 22, 2010, more than 250 Telangana people committed suicides over the delay in the formation of Telangana state.

Sri Krishna Committee solicited suggestions/views from the political parties, social organisations and other stakeholders on February 21. Committee received over 60,000 petitions by the deadline of April 10. The committee began personal interactions with the various stakeholders, including the political parties starting from April 16. The committee met with the leaders of TRS, PRP, CPI, MIM, TDP leaders from Seema-Andhra, TDP leaders from Telangana and various organizations from though out Andhra Pradesh.