Telangana and Seemandhra – All you need to Know

Niyati Parikh-Deshpande, TIR, 2 June 2014: As India’s 29th state, Telangana, is born today on the 2nd of June 2014, the map of India has undergone a change. A 63-year-old K Chandrasekar Rao, who was the face of the Telangana movement ever since 2001, has taken oath as the new Chief Minister of the state, after his party – the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) – won the assembly and parliamentary seats across the state.

After a bill had been passed in both the houses of the Parliament for the creation of a separate state of Telangana in February this year, the government had fixed 2nd June 2014 as the appointed date for the official formation of the state. The struggle of around five decades finally came to an end, materializing into Telangana.

Ahead of Rao’s swearing-in ESL Narasimhan took oath as the governor of Seemandhra as well as Telangana. ESL Narasimhan has been given the additional charge of Telangana. Hyderabad will remain to be the common capital of the two states for 10 years and meanwhile, Seemandhra will have to build a new capital.

The Governor of Telangana will administer Hyderabad till the AP government moves to a new capital.

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana – Important Facts and Figures

• Hyderabad is the common capital for both the state for a maximum period of 10 years
• Until the Andhra Pradesh government officially shifts to a new capital, the administrative control over Hyderabad will be that of the governor of Telangana.

Telangana

• Total Population = 3.52 Crore | Geographical Area = 1.14 Lakh Sq Km | No. of Districts = 10 districts
• 7 Rajya Sabha Seats | 17 Lok Sabha Seats| 119 Assembly Seats
• Districts: Hyderabad, Adilabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy and Warangal
• The region is somewhat prone to Naxal violence as it shares its borders with the Naxal-hit areas of Chhattisgarh
• Hyderabad as well as Secunderabad, with a total population of over 70 Lakhs is economically sound
• The Power crisis along with lack of irrigation are the two major challenges posed to the state

Seemandhra

• Total Population = More than 5 Crore | Geographical Area = 1.6 Lakh Sq Km | No. of Districts = 43 districts
• 11 Rajya Sabha Seats | 25 Lok Sabha Seats | 175 Assembly seats
• Important Districts: Coastal: Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore | Rayalaseema: Kadapa, Kurnool, Ananthapur and Chittoor
• Most districts of the residual Andhra Pradesh, known as Seemandhra, are well developed. Several major and well-developed cities like Vizag, Vijayawada, Tirupati and Kurnool belong to the state.
• The state has well-developed infrastructure and vast natural resources
• The huge coastline of the state might swing-in to be the advantage

Brief Timeline of Events that led to the formation of Telangana

The struggle and eventually the movement, for the creation of the separate state of Telangana is not a decade long battle, rather, it has been going on since over 50 years.

Originally, the Telangana region had been a part of the princely state of Hyderabad, ruled over by the Nizams. However, when India put an end to the rule of the Nizams in 1948, it led to the formation of the Hyderabad state.

At that time, Telangana comprising 10 districts of Hyderabad and AP comprising 23 other districts were merged to form the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Cultural differences were stark in the two regions. Moreover, Telangana had been educationally and developmentally in a better position than Andhra. Fearing lack of employment opportunities owing to the lack of development in Andhra, the people of Telangana were dead against the merger of the two states. It was then that the seeds of the Telangana movement were sown.

Soon, in the year 1969, the movement for a separate state of Telangana intensified under the leadership of Marri Chenna Reddy and the Telangana Praja Samithi (TPS). Just like any other protest movement, this too instigated widespread violence between the establishment and the activists. Eventually the movement had subsided as Marri Chenna Reddy merged the TPS with the Congress during the Indira Gandhi-led Congress government at the centre.

The movement revived once again under the leadership of K. Chandrasekhar Rao in 2001 after the formation of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS). Deals with the Congress did not seem to materialize and finally in 2009, Chandrashekhara Rao’s fast unto death forced the then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to announce the creation of a separate state of Telangana.

Let us take a look at the timeline of events since then:

• 2009 - K. Chandrasekhar Rao undertook a fast unto death. The then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram announces creation of Telangana state. Government of India appoints Justice BN Srikrishna Commission.
• December 2010 - Justice BN Srikrishna Commission submits its report to the Government of India.
• TRS rejects the report and continues its mass agitation.
• 2012-2013 - Several MPs and MLAs from TRS began to intensify the Pressure on the central government for the new state.
• 2013 - Seemandhra MPs and MLAs put up a strong protest against the division of Andhra Pradesh – mainly led by TDP-Chief N. Chandrababu Naidu and YSR Congress Supremo, Jaganmohan Reddy.
• February 2014 - Telangana Bill passed by a voice vote in the Lok Sabha
• February 2014 - The Rajya Sabha clears Telangana Bill
• April-May 2014 - TRS wins Assembly Polls in Telangana which were conducted in the state, along with the Parliamentary Polls.
• 2nd June 2014 - Telangana gets officially carved as the 29th State of the Union of India. TRS Supremo and the leader of the Telangana movement, K Chandrasekhar Rao becomes the first Chief Minister of Telangana State

Impact of the Division on the two states

Control over Rivers and related impact on Industrial Development and Incoming Investments:

• Telangana is rich in deposits limestone, bauxite and mica, which makes naturally favourable conditions for the cement industry to flourish.
• However, Telangana might get only partial control over Krishna and Godavari rivers; however major dams of Prakasam Barrage, Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam tend to supply water to other AP regions.

• This gives coastal Andhra a greater advantage over irrigation than Telangana. Consequent agitations over Telangana seeking its share in river waters are obvious to expect. This is likely to affect Coastal Andhra as it is likely to lose out on investment opportunities provided Hyderabad continues to remain to be a part of Telangana.
• Consequently, business activities in the pipeline for the coastal Andhra districts like Prakasam, Krishna, Guntur and Nellore might materialize to attract investments in the region.

Impact on Business: Epicenter Hyderabad –  A reason for Telangana to be overjoyed?

• Hyderabad is home to over 1300 global it companies, providing 5 lakh jobs and contributing 55 per cent of Rs 70,000 Cr. to the state revenue.
• Hyderabad and Secunderabad put together make the only IT hubs of Telangana and Seemandhra put-together and accounts for over 90 per cent of the state’s exports.
• With better rail and road transport facilities, a metro rail project being underway and a world class international airport, Telangana having a hold over Hyderabad has a clear advantage.
• However it is important for the government in Telangana to sustain these businesses.
• This is because, demographically, most major business ventures in Hyderabad are run by the Seemandhra population, leaving high chances for the ventures to move out of Hyderabad and somewhere into Seemandhra. The most likely Naxal infestation in Telangana is another reason for the brand Hyderabad to get affected.

Putting aside the business movements, a major and potential business advantage for Seemandhra is Vishakhapatnam. It has a naval base and a port and a ship building yard. A few IT companies and several pharmaceutical ventures calls for another business hub in the making.

The outcome of development of the two states remains to be seen, but what is sure to happen is that there are going to be major challenges and roadblocks coming in way of both the state governments. Whether it is Telangana or Seemandhra, they have their own economic and social challenges to meet in order to materialize their respective dreams of development.

The author is a writer by heart and a poet by soul who loves to touch upon various genres of writing from poetries and short stories to social/ national/ political issues to travelogues and movie reviews.