In Treta Yuga, it is believed that Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana arrived in Telengana from Dandakaranya (present-day southern Chhattisgarh). They initially came to Karimnagar district and lived in places like the Ramagiri hills and Illantha Kunta village. They then moved along the Godavari River spent their lives in exile at Parnashala, which is about 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Bhadrachalam in Khammam District.
Telangana was the homeland of the Satavahana dynasty (230 BCE to 220 CE). Kotilingala in Karimnagar was their first capital, before Dharanikota. Excavations at Kotilingala revealed coinage of Simukha, the first Satavahana emperor.
The region experienced its golden age during the reign of the Kakatiya dynasty, a Telugu dynasty that ruled most parts of what is now Andhra Pradesh from 1083 to 1323. Ganapatideva was known as the greatest of the Kakatiyas, and the first after the Satavahanas to bring the entire Telugu area under one rule. He put an end to the rule of the Cholas, who accepted his suzerainty in the year 1210. He established order in his vast dominion that stretched from the Godavari delta in the east to Raichur (in modern day Karnataka) in the west and from Karimnagar and Bastar (in modern day Chattisgarh) in the north to Srisailam and Tripurantakam, near Ongole, in the south. It was during his reign that the Golkonda fort was constructed. Rudrama Devi and Prataparudra were prominent rulers from the Kakatiya dynasty.
Telangana came under the Muslim rule of the Delhi Sultanate in the 14th century, followed by Bahmanis, Qutb Shahis, and the Mughals. As the Mughal Empire began to disintegrate in the early 18th century, the Muslim Asafjahi dynasty established a separate state known as Hyderabad. Later, Hyderabad entered into a treaty of subsidiary alliance with the British Empire, and was the largest and most populous princely state in India. Telangana was never under direct British rule, unlike the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh, which were part of British India's Madras Presidency.
The Telangana region was the heart of numerous dynasties. Chowmahalla Palace was home to the Nizams of Hyderabad state.
Telangana Rebellion
The Telangana Rebellion was a peasant revolt which was later supported by the Communists. It took place in the former princely state of Hyderabad between 1946 and 1951. This was led by the Communist Party of India.
The revolt began in the Nalgonda district and quickly spread to the Warangal and Bidar districts. Peasant farmers and labourers revolted against the local feudal landlords (jagirdars and deshmukhs) and later against the Osman Ali Khan, Asif Jah VII. The initial aims were to do away with illegal and excessive exploitation meted out by these feudal lords in the name of bonded labour (Vetti Chakiri). The most strident demand was for all debts of the peasants to be written off.
Among the well-known individuals at the forefront of the movement were leaders like Anabheri Prabhakar Rao, Bathini Mogilaiah Goud, Doddi Komraiah, Bandi Yadagiri, Suddala Hanumanthu, Acharya Konda Lakshman Bapuji, Chakalli Iylamma, Komaram Bheem, Puchalapalli Sundaraiah, Makineni Basavapunaiah, Chandra Rajeswara Rao, Raavi Narayana Reddy, Bommagani Dharma Biksham, Arjula Ramana Reddy, the Urdu poet Makhdoom Mohiuddin, Hassan Nasir, Bhimreddy Narasimha Reddy, Mallu Venkata Narasimha Reddy, Mallu Swarajyam, Arutla Ramchandra Reddy and his wife Arutla Kamala Bai.
The violent phase of the movement ended after the central government sent in the army. Starting in 1951, the CPI shifted to a more moderate strategy of seeking to bring communism to India within the constraints of Indian democracy.
Post-independence
When India became independent from the British Empire in 1947, the Nizam of Hyderabad wanted Hyderabad State to remain independent under the special provisions given to princely states. Rebellion had started throughout the state against the Nizam's rule and his army, known as the Razakars. The Razakars, led by their chief, Qasim Razvi, massacred many people and rebels to suppress the movement. They destroyed many temples and monuments across the state. Mass assassinations, similar to Jallianwala Bagh massacre, took place through out the state.[citation needed] The Government of India annexed Hyderabad State on 17 September 1948, in an operation by the Indian Army called Operation Polo. When India became independent, Telugu-speaking people were distributed in about 22 districts, 9 of them in the former Nizam's dominions of the princely state of Hyderabad, 12 in the Madras Presidency (Andhra region), and one in French-controlled Yanam.
The Central Government appointed a civil servant, M. K. Vellodi, as First Chief Minister of Hyderabad state on 26 January 1950. He administered the state with the help of bureaucrats from Madras state and Bombay state. In 1952, Dr. Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was elected Chief minister of Hyderabad State in the first democratic election. During this time there were violent agitations by some Telanganites to send back bureaucrats from Madras state, and to strictly implement rule by natives of Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, Telugu-speaking areas in the Andhra region were carved out of the erstwhile Madras state by leaders like Potti Sri Ramulu to create Andhra State in 1953, with Kurnool as its capital.
Merger of Telangana and Andhra
In December 1953, the States Reorganization Commission was appointed to prepare for the creation of states on linguistic lines. The States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) was not in favour of an immediate merger of Telangana region with Andhra state, despite their common language.
Paragraph 382 of the States Reorganisation Commission Report (SRC) said "opinion in Andhra is overwhelmingly in favour of the larger unit; public opinion in Telangana has still to crystallize itself. Important leaders of public opinion in Andhra themselves seem to appreciate that the unification of Telangana with Andhra, though desirable, should be based on a voluntary and willing association of the people and that it is primarily for the people of Telangana to take a decision about their future". The people of Telangana had several concerns. The region had a less-developed economy than Andhra, but with a larger revenue base (mostly because it taxed rather than prohibited alcoholic beverages), which people of Telangana feared might be diverted for use in Andhra. They feared that planned irrigation projects on the Krishna and Godavari rivers would not benefit Telangana proportionately, even though people of Telangana controlled the headwaters of the rivers. It was feared that the people of Andhra, who had access to higher standards of education under the British rule, would have an unfair advantage in seeking government and educational jobs.
The commission proposed that the Telangana region be constituted as a separate state with a provision for unification with Andhra state, after the 1961 general elections, if a resolution could be passed in the Telangana state assembly with a two-thirds majority.
The Chief Minister of Hyderabad State, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, expressed his view that a majority of Telangana people were against the merger.
Prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru initially was skeptical of merging Telangana with Andhra State, fearing a "tint of expansionist imperialism" in it. He compared the merger to a matrimonial alliance having "provisions for divorce" if the partners in the alliance cannot get on well.
Following the Gentlemen's agreement, the central government established a unified Andhra Pradesh on November 1, 1956. The agreement provided reassurances to Telangana in terms of power-sharing as well as administrative domicile rules and distribution of expenses of various regions.
Anti-Nehru politics emerged with the repression of the Telengana movement; many within the Congress Party extended their hands to leftist causes. Feroze Gandhi was among them.
Separate Telangana state movement
Main article: Telangana movement
Grievances of Telangana proponents
Telangana is the largest of the three regions of Andhra Pradesh state, covering 41.47% of its total area. It is inhabited by 40.54% of the state's population and contributes about 76% of the state's revenues, excluding the contribution of the central government. When the central government's contribution to revenue is included, Andhra Pradesh's revenue sources come from Telangana: 61.47% (including 37.17% from Hyderabad); from the central government: 19.86%; from Andhra: 14.71%; and from Rayalaseema: 3.90%.
Proponents of a separate Telangana state cite perceived injustices in the distribution of water, budget allocations, and jobs. Within the state of Andhra Pradesh, 68.5% of the catchment area of the Krishna River and 69% of the catchment area of the Godavari River are in the Telangana region. Telangana supporters state that the benefits of irrigation through the canal system under major irrigation projects is accruing substantially, 74.25%, to the Coastal Andhra region, while the share to Telangana is 18.20%. The remaining 7.55% goes to the Rayalaseema region. The state's expenditure on Telangana's major irrigation projects is 18.20% of the total expenditure.[citation needed]
The share of education funding for Telangana ranges from 9.86% in government-aided primary schools to 37.85% in government degree colleges. The above numbers include the expenditure in Hyderabad. Budget allocations to Telangana are generally less than 1/3 of the total Andhra Pradesh budget. There are allegations that in most years, funds allocated to Telangana were never spent. Telangana proponents cite that only 20% of the total Government employees, less than 10% of employees in the secretariat, and less than 5% of department heads in the Andhra Pradesh government are from Telangana; those from other regions make up the bulk of employment. Andhra Pradesh was represented by Telangana chief ministers for only 6 1/2 years out of over five decades of its existence, with no chief minister from the region being in power continuously for more than 2 1/2 years.
Proponents of a separate Telangana state feel that the agreements, plans, and assurances from the legislature and Lok Sabha over the last fifty years have not been honoured, and as a consequence Telangana has remained neglected, exploited, and backward. They allege that the experiment to remain as one state has proven to be a futile exercise and that separation is the best solution.
1969 Telangana movement
In the years after the formation of Andhra Pradesh state, people of Telangana expressed dissatisfaction over how the agreements and guarantees were implemented. Discontent with the 1956 Gentleman's agreement intensified in January 1969, when the guarantees that had been agreed on were supposed to lapse. Student agitation for the continuation of the agreement began at Osmania University in Hyderabad and spread to other parts of the region. Government employees and opposition members of the state legislative assembly threatened "direct action" in support of the students. Purushotham Rao was for outright separation, and he supported the student views. He unveiled a map of Telangana in the state assembly. A memorial called Gun Park was built near Public Gardens, Hyderabad to commemorate students who lost their lives in the struggles of 1969.
Although the Congress faced some dissension within its ranks, its leadership stood against additional linguistic states. As a result, defectors from the Congress, led by M. Chenna Reddy, founded the Telangana Praja Samithi political party in 1969. In the May 1971 parliamentary elections, Telangana Praja Samithi won 10 out the 14 Parliament seats in Telangana. Despite these electoral successes, some of the new party leaders gave up their agitation in September 1971 after realizing that the Prime Minister was not inclined to towards a separate state of Telangana, and rejoined the safer political haven of the Congress ranks.
During this period, the Government promised to correct what critics saw as a violation of the promises of the Gentleman's agreement in the areas of jobs, budget allocations, and educational facilities. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was strongly against the division of the state, but on her recommendation, P. V. Narasimha Rao became the first Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh from Telangana on 30 September 1971.
In 1972, candidates of the Telangana Praja Samithi party contested all the available seats for the assembly elections. However, only Thakkalapalli Purushothama Rao got elected, from Wardhannapet constituency in Warangal District.
1972 Jai Andhra Movement
Under the Mulki rules in force at the time, anyone who had lived in Hyderabad for 15 years was considered a local, and was thus elligible for certain government posts. When the Supreme Court upheld the Mulki rules at the end of 1972, the Jai Andhra movement, with the aim of re-forming a separate state of Andhra, was started in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. P. V. Narasimha Rao resigned as Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh on 10 January 1973, and President's rule was declared in the state.
[edit] Six-Point Formula of 1973
On 21 September 1973, a political settlement was reached with the Government of India with a Six-Point Formula. It was agreed upon by the leaders of the two regions to prevent any recurrence of such agitations in the future.
1. Accelerated development of the backward areas of the State, and planned development of the State capital, with specific resources earmarked for these purposes; and appropriate representation of such backward areas in the State legislature, along with other experts, should formulate and monitor development schemes for the areas. The formation at the State level of a Planning Board as well as Sub-Committees for different backward areas should be the appropriate instrument for achieving this objective.
2. Institution of uniform arrangements throughout the State enabling adequate preference being given to local candidates in the matter of admission to educational institutions, and establishment of a new Central University at Hyderabad to augment the existing educational facilities should be the basis of the educational policy of the State.
3. Subject to the requirements of the State as a whole, local candidates should be given preference to specified extent in the matter of direct recruitment to (i) non-gazetted posts (other than in the Secretariat. Offices of Heads of Department, other State level offices and institutions and the Hyderabad City Police) (ii) corresponding posts under the local bodies and (iii) the posts of Tahsildars, Junior Engineers and Civil Assistant Surgeons. In order to improve their promotion prospects, service cadres should be organised to the extent possible on appropriate local basis up to specified gazetted level, first or second, as may be administratively convenient.
4. A high-power administrative tribunal should be constituted to deal with the grievances of services regarding appointments, seniority, promotion and other allied matters. The decisions of the Tribunal should ordinarily be binding on the State Government. The constitution of such a tribunal would justify limits on recourse to judiciary in such matters.
5. In order that implementation of measures based on the above principles does not give rise to litigation and consequent uncertainty, the Constitution should be suitably amended to the extent necessary conferring on the President enabling powers in this behalf.
6. The above approach would render the continuance of Mulki Rules and Regional Committee unnecessary.
Movement in 1990–2004
In the 1990s, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), founded in 1980, promised a separate Telangana state if they came to power. BJP created Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Uttarkhand states in 2000. But the BJP could not create a separate Telangana state because of opposition from its coalition partner, Telugu Desam Party. Congress party MLAs from the Telangana region who supported a separate Telangana state formed the Telangana Congress Legislators Forum. A new party called Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), led by Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), was formed in 2001 with the single-point agenda of creating a separate Telangana state with Hyderabad as its capital.
2004 to 2009
Flag of TRS
For the 2004 Assembly and Parliament elections, the Congress party and the TRS had an electoral alliance in the Telangana region that promised a separate Telangana State. Congress came to power in the state and formed a coalition government at the centre. TRS joined the coalition government in 2004 and was successful in making a separate Telangana state a part of the common minimum programme of the coalition government. In April 2006, the then Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy sent a report to Congress against the formation of the new Telangana state. In September 2006, TRS withdrew support from the Congress-led coalition government because of their failure to deliver on their promise to create an independent Telangana state.
In December 2006, the TRS won the by-election to the Karimnagar parliamentary constituency with a record margin. The TRS continued to pressure for the creation of a Telangana state in 2008.
All TRS legislators in Parliament and in the State (4 MPs, 16 MLAs, and 3 MLCs) resigned in the first week of March 2008 and forced by-elections to increase the pressure on Congress party to take action.
By-elections for the 16 MLA seats and the 4 MP seats were held on 29 May 2008. During the election campaign, the TRS party called the by-election a referendum on a Telangana state. The Congress and TDP parties said it is not a referendum on Telangana, and said that they were not opposed to the formation of Telangana state. The TRS retained only 7 out of the 16 MLA seats and 2 out of the 4 MP seats as a result of the by-elections.
In June 2008, Tulla Devender Goud, a politbureau member and Deputy Leader of the Telugu Desam Party, resigned from the party, saying he would devote his time and energy to the formation of a separate Teelangana state. In July 2008, Goud and other leaders such as E. Peddi Reddy formed a new party called Nava Telangana Praja Party (NTPP).
On 9 October 2008, the TDP announced its support for the creation of Telangana.
Konda Laxman Bapuji of the Nava Telangana Party announced that "We solemnly declare statehood for Telangana on November 2, 2008."
2009 to present
In February 2009 the state government declared that it had no objection, in principle, to the formation of separate Telangana and that the time had come to move forward decisively on this issue. To resolve related issues, the government constituted a joint house committee.
Ahead of the 2009 General Elections in India, all the major parties in Andhra Pradesh supported the formation of Telangana. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) again announced that they would create two more states, Telangana and Gorkhaland, if they won the election. The Congress Party said it was committed to Telangana statehood, but claimed that Muslim minorities were opposed to the creation of separate state, along with the majority of the people. Some analysts felt that the "Muslim reluctance card" was deftly played by then Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who was opposed to the formation of the new state.
The Telugu Desam Party promised to work for Telangana statehood. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) joined a Mahakutami (or grand alliance) with the TDP and other parties to defeat the Congress party for denying statehood.
The Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), newly founded by film star Chiranjeevi, supported Telangana statehood. The Nava Telangana Praja Party announced that it would merge with PRP after it concluded that there was not enough political space for two sub-regional Telangana parties that had Telananga statehood as their main agenda, but later reversed itself and merged with the Telugu Desam Party.[citation needed]
Congress returned to power both at center and state. In AP, Congress won 154 out of 294 MLA seats and 33 out of 42 MP seats. Within Telangana, Congress won 50 out of 119 MLA seats and 12 out of 17 MP seats.
On 29 November 2009, TRS president K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) started a fast-unto-death, demanding that the Congress party introduce a Telangana bill in Parliament. He was arrested by the government of Andhra Pradesh. Student organizations, employee unions, and various organizations joined the movement. General strikes shut down Telangana on 6 and 7 December. Student organizations planned a massive rally at the state Assembly on 10 December. The government warned that the rally did not have permission and deployed police troops throughout Telangana. The apparent decline in KCR's health led to a sense of urgency to the issue.
Proposed Telangana state formation process
On 9 December 2009, Union Minister of Home Affairs P. Chidambaram 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 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. Within a short time of the Home Minister's declaration, MLAs from the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions submitted their resignations in protest. By 16 December, at least 147 legislators (including Praja Rajyam Founder Chiranjeevi) and many Members of Parliament had resigned. 22 Ministers from the State Cabinet, all from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, submitted their resignations.
On 16 December, 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 23 December, 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 24 December 2009, 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. Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema region MLAs started withdrawing their resignations while MLAs and ministers from Telangana started submitting their resignations, and demanded that the Centre take immediate steps to initiate the process of bifurcating Andhra Pradesh. The Home minister conducted an all-party meeting on 5 January to elicit views of all parties in the State. On the advice of Congress party's central leadership, all of the Ministers from Telangana withdrew their resignations. Rallies, hunger strikes, and suicides continued throughout Telangana to protest against the delay in bifurcating the State. The all-party Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) started relay hunger strikes and threatened the resignations of all legislators on 28 January, demanding that the Centre spell out its intentions and create a timetable for change. Union minister for Home Affairs P Chidambaram announced on 28 January that a Committee to examine the demand for a separate Telangana would be announced in a week. On 3 February the government announced the five-member committee that would look into the issue.
The Telangana Joint Action Committee said the agitations would continue until a Bill was passed in Parliament. On 3 February, the JAC organized what is claimed to be the longest human chain in India, a distance of 500 kilometres (310 mi) from north to south in Telangana.[verification needed]
The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Islamic organisation supported a separate Telangana state with the slogan "Justice for Telangana and Telangana for Justice". The Jamaat, with its student wing Students Islamic Organisation of India, organised a rally at Nizam College grounds on 7 February 2010.
On 12 February, the central government announced Terms of Reference to the Srikrishna Committee, with a deadline of 31 December 2010. Telangana-JAC rejected the terms of reference saying that it "undid" the Union home minister's statement of December 9 in New Delhi.
All ten TRS MLAs, one TDP MLA, and one BJP MLA insisted that the speaker of Assembly accept their resignations. The rest of the Telangana MLAs withdrew their resignations.
On 16 February, Congress legislators from the Telangana region resigned from the Joint Action Committee due to "unilateral actions by KCR.". "
The SKC compiled information which indicates that between 30 November 2009 and 27 February 2010, 313 Telangana people committed suicide over the delay in the formation of Telangana state.
The Srikrishna Committee solicited suggestions and views from political parties, social organisations, and other stakeholders on 21 February. The committee received over 60,000 petitions by the deadline of 10 April. The committee began personal interactions with the various stakeholders, including the political parties, starting on 16 April. The committee met with the leaders of TRS, PRP, CPI, MIM, TDP, and various organizations from thoughout Andhra Pradesh.
On 6 July, Telangana congress legislators and ministers met with the Srikrishna committee and made arguments in favor of the formation of Telangana state.
All the Telangana MLAs who resigned in protest in February were re-elected in by-elections on 27 July 2010 with huge majorities. Congress and TDP candidates who decided to contest the elections, ignoring the appeal of JAC, lost their deposits by obtaining less than one-sixth of the votes in many constituencies. TDP candidates lost their deposits in all constituencies.
In a report submitted to the Srikrishna Committee, ministers from Seema-Andhra region stated that those seeking a separate Telangana are anti-national. They said that all the districts of Telangana were well-developed between 1992 and the present. This statement evoked strong protests in Telangana and demands for the dismissal of those ministers. In a report dated 9 August, the central government declared 13 districts in AP are backward, and 9 out of 10 Telangana districts are backward.
On 16 December 2010, two weeks before the deadline for the submission of the Srikrishna report, TRS organized a public meeting in Warangal. It was estimated that 1.2 to 1.5 million people attended this meeting. News reports said that even more would have attended, but they were stranded on the roads due to traffic jams reaching 20 kilometres (12 mi) along roads leading to Warangal city. Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K. Chandrasekhar Rao appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to note that the people of Telangana were losing patience. Hea demanded that the Centre introduce the Bill on Telangana in the next session of Parliament.
The Srikrishna committee on Telangana submitted its report in two volumes to the Home Ministry of India on 30 December 2010. The home Ministry announced that it would hold talks with all eight recognized political parties of Andhra Pradesh on 6 January 2011 and make the report public on the same day.
Srikrishna Committee report
In an all-party meeting on 6 January 2011, which was boycotted by the TRS, BJP and TDP, the Home ministry made the 505-page Srikrishna committee report public. Section 9-3 (page 440) of the report discusses six solutions.
1. Status quo: the committee favours this option the least.
2. Bifurcation of the State into Seemandhra and Telangana, with Hyderabad as a Union Territory, and the two states developing their own capitals in due course. The committee found this option not practicable.
3. Bifurcation of State into Rayala-Telangana and coastal Andhra regions, with Hyderabad being an integral part of Rayala-Telangana. The committee believes that this option may not offer a resolution which would be acceptable to people of all three regions.
4. Bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into Seemandhra and Telangana, with an enlarged Hyderabad Metropolis as a separate Union Territory. This Union Territory would have geographical linkage and contiguity via Nalgonda district in the south-east to district Guntur in coastal Andhra and via Mahboobnagar district in the south to Kurnool district in Rayalaseema. While there are some positives to this option, the committee felt it may be difficult to reach a political consensus in making this solution acceptable to all.
5. Bifurcation of the State into Telangana and Seemandhra as per existing boundaries, with Hyderabad as the capital of Telangana and Seemandhra to have a new capital. The Committee felt that this is the second best option. The Committee is of the view that given the long history of the demand for a separate Telangana, the highly-charged emotions, and the likelihood of continued agitation if the demand is not met, consideration has to be given to this option. The committee felt that the continuing demand for a separate Telangana has some merit and is not entirely unjustified. Separation is recommended only in case it is unavoidable and if this decision can be reached amicably amongst all the three regions.
6. Keeping the State united by simultaneously providing certain definite constitutional and statutory measures for socio-economic development and political empowerment of Telangana region through the creation of a statutorily-empowered Telangana Regional Council. The Committee considers that unity is in the best interest of all three regions of the state as internal partitions would not be conducive to providing sustainable solutions to the issues at hand. The Committee discussed all aspects of this option and while it acknowledges that there will be difficulties in its implementation, it found it to be the most workable option in the circumstances, and in the best interest of the social and economic welfare of the people of all three regions. The Committee expects that the initial reaction to this option will be total rejection by some political leaders, other groups and organizations, and a majority of the people from Telangana region, since their long-standing demand for a separate Telangana would not be met.
Telangana leaders say the best option from the Sri Krishna committee report is option 5, which calls for the formation of separate Telangana state with Hyderabad as its capital. They plan to pressure the Central government to zero in on option 5 as the only workable option.
The Telangana JAC steering committee, comprising experts from different fields, studied the Sri Krishana Committee report and came to the conclusion that the report was a " bunch of lies".
Telangana was the homeland of the Satavahana dynasty (230 BCE to 220 CE). Kotilingala in Karimnagar was their first capital, before Dharanikota. Excavations at Kotilingala revealed coinage of Simukha, the first Satavahana emperor.
The region experienced its golden age during the reign of the Kakatiya dynasty, a Telugu dynasty that ruled most parts of what is now Andhra Pradesh from 1083 to 1323. Ganapatideva was known as the greatest of the Kakatiyas, and the first after the Satavahanas to bring the entire Telugu area under one rule. He put an end to the rule of the Cholas, who accepted his suzerainty in the year 1210. He established order in his vast dominion that stretched from the Godavari delta in the east to Raichur (in modern day Karnataka) in the west and from Karimnagar and Bastar (in modern day Chattisgarh) in the north to Srisailam and Tripurantakam, near Ongole, in the south. It was during his reign that the Golkonda fort was constructed. Rudrama Devi and Prataparudra were prominent rulers from the Kakatiya dynasty.
Telangana came under the Muslim rule of the Delhi Sultanate in the 14th century, followed by Bahmanis, Qutb Shahis, and the Mughals. As the Mughal Empire began to disintegrate in the early 18th century, the Muslim Asafjahi dynasty established a separate state known as Hyderabad. Later, Hyderabad entered into a treaty of subsidiary alliance with the British Empire, and was the largest and most populous princely state in India. Telangana was never under direct British rule, unlike the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh, which were part of British India's Madras Presidency.
The Telangana region was the heart of numerous dynasties. Chowmahalla Palace was home to the Nizams of Hyderabad state.
Telangana Rebellion
The Telangana Rebellion was a peasant revolt which was later supported by the Communists. It took place in the former princely state of Hyderabad between 1946 and 1951. This was led by the Communist Party of India.
The revolt began in the Nalgonda district and quickly spread to the Warangal and Bidar districts. Peasant farmers and labourers revolted against the local feudal landlords (jagirdars and deshmukhs) and later against the Osman Ali Khan, Asif Jah VII. The initial aims were to do away with illegal and excessive exploitation meted out by these feudal lords in the name of bonded labour (Vetti Chakiri). The most strident demand was for all debts of the peasants to be written off.
Among the well-known individuals at the forefront of the movement were leaders like Anabheri Prabhakar Rao, Bathini Mogilaiah Goud, Doddi Komraiah, Bandi Yadagiri, Suddala Hanumanthu, Acharya Konda Lakshman Bapuji, Chakalli Iylamma, Komaram Bheem, Puchalapalli Sundaraiah, Makineni Basavapunaiah, Chandra Rajeswara Rao, Raavi Narayana Reddy, Bommagani Dharma Biksham, Arjula Ramana Reddy, the Urdu poet Makhdoom Mohiuddin, Hassan Nasir, Bhimreddy Narasimha Reddy, Mallu Venkata Narasimha Reddy, Mallu Swarajyam, Arutla Ramchandra Reddy and his wife Arutla Kamala Bai.
The violent phase of the movement ended after the central government sent in the army. Starting in 1951, the CPI shifted to a more moderate strategy of seeking to bring communism to India within the constraints of Indian democracy.
Post-independence
When India became independent from the British Empire in 1947, the Nizam of Hyderabad wanted Hyderabad State to remain independent under the special provisions given to princely states. Rebellion had started throughout the state against the Nizam's rule and his army, known as the Razakars. The Razakars, led by their chief, Qasim Razvi, massacred many people and rebels to suppress the movement. They destroyed many temples and monuments across the state. Mass assassinations, similar to Jallianwala Bagh massacre, took place through out the state.[citation needed] The Government of India annexed Hyderabad State on 17 September 1948, in an operation by the Indian Army called Operation Polo. When India became independent, Telugu-speaking people were distributed in about 22 districts, 9 of them in the former Nizam's dominions of the princely state of Hyderabad, 12 in the Madras Presidency (Andhra region), and one in French-controlled Yanam.
The Central Government appointed a civil servant, M. K. Vellodi, as First Chief Minister of Hyderabad state on 26 January 1950. He administered the state with the help of bureaucrats from Madras state and Bombay state. In 1952, Dr. Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was elected Chief minister of Hyderabad State in the first democratic election. During this time there were violent agitations by some Telanganites to send back bureaucrats from Madras state, and to strictly implement rule by natives of Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, Telugu-speaking areas in the Andhra region were carved out of the erstwhile Madras state by leaders like Potti Sri Ramulu to create Andhra State in 1953, with Kurnool as its capital.
Merger of Telangana and Andhra
In December 1953, the States Reorganization Commission was appointed to prepare for the creation of states on linguistic lines. The States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) was not in favour of an immediate merger of Telangana region with Andhra state, despite their common language.
Paragraph 382 of the States Reorganisation Commission Report (SRC) said "opinion in Andhra is overwhelmingly in favour of the larger unit; public opinion in Telangana has still to crystallize itself. Important leaders of public opinion in Andhra themselves seem to appreciate that the unification of Telangana with Andhra, though desirable, should be based on a voluntary and willing association of the people and that it is primarily for the people of Telangana to take a decision about their future". The people of Telangana had several concerns. The region had a less-developed economy than Andhra, but with a larger revenue base (mostly because it taxed rather than prohibited alcoholic beverages), which people of Telangana feared might be diverted for use in Andhra. They feared that planned irrigation projects on the Krishna and Godavari rivers would not benefit Telangana proportionately, even though people of Telangana controlled the headwaters of the rivers. It was feared that the people of Andhra, who had access to higher standards of education under the British rule, would have an unfair advantage in seeking government and educational jobs.
The commission proposed that the Telangana region be constituted as a separate state with a provision for unification with Andhra state, after the 1961 general elections, if a resolution could be passed in the Telangana state assembly with a two-thirds majority.
The Chief Minister of Hyderabad State, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, expressed his view that a majority of Telangana people were against the merger.
Prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru initially was skeptical of merging Telangana with Andhra State, fearing a "tint of expansionist imperialism" in it. He compared the merger to a matrimonial alliance having "provisions for divorce" if the partners in the alliance cannot get on well.
Following the Gentlemen's agreement, the central government established a unified Andhra Pradesh on November 1, 1956. The agreement provided reassurances to Telangana in terms of power-sharing as well as administrative domicile rules and distribution of expenses of various regions.
Anti-Nehru politics emerged with the repression of the Telengana movement; many within the Congress Party extended their hands to leftist causes. Feroze Gandhi was among them.
Separate Telangana state movement
Main article: Telangana movement
Grievances of Telangana proponents
Telangana is the largest of the three regions of Andhra Pradesh state, covering 41.47% of its total area. It is inhabited by 40.54% of the state's population and contributes about 76% of the state's revenues, excluding the contribution of the central government. When the central government's contribution to revenue is included, Andhra Pradesh's revenue sources come from Telangana: 61.47% (including 37.17% from Hyderabad); from the central government: 19.86%; from Andhra: 14.71%; and from Rayalaseema: 3.90%.
Proponents of a separate Telangana state cite perceived injustices in the distribution of water, budget allocations, and jobs. Within the state of Andhra Pradesh, 68.5% of the catchment area of the Krishna River and 69% of the catchment area of the Godavari River are in the Telangana region. Telangana supporters state that the benefits of irrigation through the canal system under major irrigation projects is accruing substantially, 74.25%, to the Coastal Andhra region, while the share to Telangana is 18.20%. The remaining 7.55% goes to the Rayalaseema region. The state's expenditure on Telangana's major irrigation projects is 18.20% of the total expenditure.[citation needed]
The share of education funding for Telangana ranges from 9.86% in government-aided primary schools to 37.85% in government degree colleges. The above numbers include the expenditure in Hyderabad. Budget allocations to Telangana are generally less than 1/3 of the total Andhra Pradesh budget. There are allegations that in most years, funds allocated to Telangana were never spent. Telangana proponents cite that only 20% of the total Government employees, less than 10% of employees in the secretariat, and less than 5% of department heads in the Andhra Pradesh government are from Telangana; those from other regions make up the bulk of employment. Andhra Pradesh was represented by Telangana chief ministers for only 6 1/2 years out of over five decades of its existence, with no chief minister from the region being in power continuously for more than 2 1/2 years.
Proponents of a separate Telangana state feel that the agreements, plans, and assurances from the legislature and Lok Sabha over the last fifty years have not been honoured, and as a consequence Telangana has remained neglected, exploited, and backward. They allege that the experiment to remain as one state has proven to be a futile exercise and that separation is the best solution.
1969 Telangana movement
In the years after the formation of Andhra Pradesh state, people of Telangana expressed dissatisfaction over how the agreements and guarantees were implemented. Discontent with the 1956 Gentleman's agreement intensified in January 1969, when the guarantees that had been agreed on were supposed to lapse. Student agitation for the continuation of the agreement began at Osmania University in Hyderabad and spread to other parts of the region. Government employees and opposition members of the state legislative assembly threatened "direct action" in support of the students. Purushotham Rao was for outright separation, and he supported the student views. He unveiled a map of Telangana in the state assembly. A memorial called Gun Park was built near Public Gardens, Hyderabad to commemorate students who lost their lives in the struggles of 1969.
Although the Congress faced some dissension within its ranks, its leadership stood against additional linguistic states. As a result, defectors from the Congress, led by M. Chenna Reddy, founded the Telangana Praja Samithi political party in 1969. In the May 1971 parliamentary elections, Telangana Praja Samithi won 10 out the 14 Parliament seats in Telangana. Despite these electoral successes, some of the new party leaders gave up their agitation in September 1971 after realizing that the Prime Minister was not inclined to towards a separate state of Telangana, and rejoined the safer political haven of the Congress ranks.
During this period, the Government promised to correct what critics saw as a violation of the promises of the Gentleman's agreement in the areas of jobs, budget allocations, and educational facilities. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was strongly against the division of the state, but on her recommendation, P. V. Narasimha Rao became the first Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh from Telangana on 30 September 1971.
In 1972, candidates of the Telangana Praja Samithi party contested all the available seats for the assembly elections. However, only Thakkalapalli Purushothama Rao got elected, from Wardhannapet constituency in Warangal District.
1972 Jai Andhra Movement
Under the Mulki rules in force at the time, anyone who had lived in Hyderabad for 15 years was considered a local, and was thus elligible for certain government posts. When the Supreme Court upheld the Mulki rules at the end of 1972, the Jai Andhra movement, with the aim of re-forming a separate state of Andhra, was started in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. P. V. Narasimha Rao resigned as Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh on 10 January 1973, and President's rule was declared in the state.
[edit] Six-Point Formula of 1973
On 21 September 1973, a political settlement was reached with the Government of India with a Six-Point Formula. It was agreed upon by the leaders of the two regions to prevent any recurrence of such agitations in the future.
1. Accelerated development of the backward areas of the State, and planned development of the State capital, with specific resources earmarked for these purposes; and appropriate representation of such backward areas in the State legislature, along with other experts, should formulate and monitor development schemes for the areas. The formation at the State level of a Planning Board as well as Sub-Committees for different backward areas should be the appropriate instrument for achieving this objective.
2. Institution of uniform arrangements throughout the State enabling adequate preference being given to local candidates in the matter of admission to educational institutions, and establishment of a new Central University at Hyderabad to augment the existing educational facilities should be the basis of the educational policy of the State.
3. Subject to the requirements of the State as a whole, local candidates should be given preference to specified extent in the matter of direct recruitment to (i) non-gazetted posts (other than in the Secretariat. Offices of Heads of Department, other State level offices and institutions and the Hyderabad City Police) (ii) corresponding posts under the local bodies and (iii) the posts of Tahsildars, Junior Engineers and Civil Assistant Surgeons. In order to improve their promotion prospects, service cadres should be organised to the extent possible on appropriate local basis up to specified gazetted level, first or second, as may be administratively convenient.
4. A high-power administrative tribunal should be constituted to deal with the grievances of services regarding appointments, seniority, promotion and other allied matters. The decisions of the Tribunal should ordinarily be binding on the State Government. The constitution of such a tribunal would justify limits on recourse to judiciary in such matters.
5. In order that implementation of measures based on the above principles does not give rise to litigation and consequent uncertainty, the Constitution should be suitably amended to the extent necessary conferring on the President enabling powers in this behalf.
6. The above approach would render the continuance of Mulki Rules and Regional Committee unnecessary.
Movement in 1990–2004
In the 1990s, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), founded in 1980, promised a separate Telangana state if they came to power. BJP created Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Uttarkhand states in 2000. But the BJP could not create a separate Telangana state because of opposition from its coalition partner, Telugu Desam Party. Congress party MLAs from the Telangana region who supported a separate Telangana state formed the Telangana Congress Legislators Forum. A new party called Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), led by Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), was formed in 2001 with the single-point agenda of creating a separate Telangana state with Hyderabad as its capital.
2004 to 2009
Flag of TRS
For the 2004 Assembly and Parliament elections, the Congress party and the TRS had an electoral alliance in the Telangana region that promised a separate Telangana State. Congress came to power in the state and formed a coalition government at the centre. TRS joined the coalition government in 2004 and was successful in making a separate Telangana state a part of the common minimum programme of the coalition government. In April 2006, the then Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy sent a report to Congress against the formation of the new Telangana state. In September 2006, TRS withdrew support from the Congress-led coalition government because of their failure to deliver on their promise to create an independent Telangana state.
In December 2006, the TRS won the by-election to the Karimnagar parliamentary constituency with a record margin. The TRS continued to pressure for the creation of a Telangana state in 2008.
All TRS legislators in Parliament and in the State (4 MPs, 16 MLAs, and 3 MLCs) resigned in the first week of March 2008 and forced by-elections to increase the pressure on Congress party to take action.
By-elections for the 16 MLA seats and the 4 MP seats were held on 29 May 2008. During the election campaign, the TRS party called the by-election a referendum on a Telangana state. The Congress and TDP parties said it is not a referendum on Telangana, and said that they were not opposed to the formation of Telangana state. The TRS retained only 7 out of the 16 MLA seats and 2 out of the 4 MP seats as a result of the by-elections.
In June 2008, Tulla Devender Goud, a politbureau member and Deputy Leader of the Telugu Desam Party, resigned from the party, saying he would devote his time and energy to the formation of a separate Teelangana state. In July 2008, Goud and other leaders such as E. Peddi Reddy formed a new party called Nava Telangana Praja Party (NTPP).
On 9 October 2008, the TDP announced its support for the creation of Telangana.
Konda Laxman Bapuji of the Nava Telangana Party announced that "We solemnly declare statehood for Telangana on November 2, 2008."
2009 to present
In February 2009 the state government declared that it had no objection, in principle, to the formation of separate Telangana and that the time had come to move forward decisively on this issue. To resolve related issues, the government constituted a joint house committee.
Ahead of the 2009 General Elections in India, all the major parties in Andhra Pradesh supported the formation of Telangana. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) again announced that they would create two more states, Telangana and Gorkhaland, if they won the election. The Congress Party said it was committed to Telangana statehood, but claimed that Muslim minorities were opposed to the creation of separate state, along with the majority of the people. Some analysts felt that the "Muslim reluctance card" was deftly played by then Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who was opposed to the formation of the new state.
The Telugu Desam Party promised to work for Telangana statehood. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) joined a Mahakutami (or grand alliance) with the TDP and other parties to defeat the Congress party for denying statehood.
The Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), newly founded by film star Chiranjeevi, supported Telangana statehood. The Nava Telangana Praja Party announced that it would merge with PRP after it concluded that there was not enough political space for two sub-regional Telangana parties that had Telananga statehood as their main agenda, but later reversed itself and merged with the Telugu Desam Party.[citation needed]
Congress returned to power both at center and state. In AP, Congress won 154 out of 294 MLA seats and 33 out of 42 MP seats. Within Telangana, Congress won 50 out of 119 MLA seats and 12 out of 17 MP seats.
On 29 November 2009, TRS president K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) started a fast-unto-death, demanding that the Congress party introduce a Telangana bill in Parliament. He was arrested by the government of Andhra Pradesh. Student organizations, employee unions, and various organizations joined the movement. General strikes shut down Telangana on 6 and 7 December. Student organizations planned a massive rally at the state Assembly on 10 December. The government warned that the rally did not have permission and deployed police troops throughout Telangana. The apparent decline in KCR's health led to a sense of urgency to the issue.
Proposed Telangana state formation process
On 9 December 2009, Union Minister of Home Affairs P. Chidambaram 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 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. Within a short time of the Home Minister's declaration, MLAs from the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions submitted their resignations in protest. By 16 December, at least 147 legislators (including Praja Rajyam Founder Chiranjeevi) and many Members of Parliament had resigned. 22 Ministers from the State Cabinet, all from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, submitted their resignations.
On 16 December, 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 23 December, 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 24 December 2009, 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. Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema region MLAs started withdrawing their resignations while MLAs and ministers from Telangana started submitting their resignations, and demanded that the Centre take immediate steps to initiate the process of bifurcating Andhra Pradesh. The Home minister conducted an all-party meeting on 5 January to elicit views of all parties in the State. On the advice of Congress party's central leadership, all of the Ministers from Telangana withdrew their resignations. Rallies, hunger strikes, and suicides continued throughout Telangana to protest against the delay in bifurcating the State. The all-party Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) started relay hunger strikes and threatened the resignations of all legislators on 28 January, demanding that the Centre spell out its intentions and create a timetable for change. Union minister for Home Affairs P Chidambaram announced on 28 January that a Committee to examine the demand for a separate Telangana would be announced in a week. On 3 February the government announced the five-member committee that would look into the issue.
The Telangana Joint Action Committee said the agitations would continue until a Bill was passed in Parliament. On 3 February, the JAC organized what is claimed to be the longest human chain in India, a distance of 500 kilometres (310 mi) from north to south in Telangana.[verification needed]
The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Islamic organisation supported a separate Telangana state with the slogan "Justice for Telangana and Telangana for Justice". The Jamaat, with its student wing Students Islamic Organisation of India, organised a rally at Nizam College grounds on 7 February 2010.
On 12 February, the central government announced Terms of Reference to the Srikrishna Committee, with a deadline of 31 December 2010. Telangana-JAC rejected the terms of reference saying that it "undid" the Union home minister's statement of December 9 in New Delhi.
All ten TRS MLAs, one TDP MLA, and one BJP MLA insisted that the speaker of Assembly accept their resignations. The rest of the Telangana MLAs withdrew their resignations.
On 16 February, Congress legislators from the Telangana region resigned from the Joint Action Committee due to "unilateral actions by KCR.". "
The SKC compiled information which indicates that between 30 November 2009 and 27 February 2010, 313 Telangana people committed suicide over the delay in the formation of Telangana state.
The Srikrishna Committee solicited suggestions and views from political parties, social organisations, and other stakeholders on 21 February. The committee received over 60,000 petitions by the deadline of 10 April. The committee began personal interactions with the various stakeholders, including the political parties, starting on 16 April. The committee met with the leaders of TRS, PRP, CPI, MIM, TDP, and various organizations from thoughout Andhra Pradesh.
On 6 July, Telangana congress legislators and ministers met with the Srikrishna committee and made arguments in favor of the formation of Telangana state.
All the Telangana MLAs who resigned in protest in February were re-elected in by-elections on 27 July 2010 with huge majorities. Congress and TDP candidates who decided to contest the elections, ignoring the appeal of JAC, lost their deposits by obtaining less than one-sixth of the votes in many constituencies. TDP candidates lost their deposits in all constituencies.
In a report submitted to the Srikrishna Committee, ministers from Seema-Andhra region stated that those seeking a separate Telangana are anti-national. They said that all the districts of Telangana were well-developed between 1992 and the present. This statement evoked strong protests in Telangana and demands for the dismissal of those ministers. In a report dated 9 August, the central government declared 13 districts in AP are backward, and 9 out of 10 Telangana districts are backward.
On 16 December 2010, two weeks before the deadline for the submission of the Srikrishna report, TRS organized a public meeting in Warangal. It was estimated that 1.2 to 1.5 million people attended this meeting. News reports said that even more would have attended, but they were stranded on the roads due to traffic jams reaching 20 kilometres (12 mi) along roads leading to Warangal city. Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K. Chandrasekhar Rao appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to note that the people of Telangana were losing patience. Hea demanded that the Centre introduce the Bill on Telangana in the next session of Parliament.
The Srikrishna committee on Telangana submitted its report in two volumes to the Home Ministry of India on 30 December 2010. The home Ministry announced that it would hold talks with all eight recognized political parties of Andhra Pradesh on 6 January 2011 and make the report public on the same day.
Srikrishna Committee report
In an all-party meeting on 6 January 2011, which was boycotted by the TRS, BJP and TDP, the Home ministry made the 505-page Srikrishna committee report public. Section 9-3 (page 440) of the report discusses six solutions.
1. Status quo: the committee favours this option the least.
2. Bifurcation of the State into Seemandhra and Telangana, with Hyderabad as a Union Territory, and the two states developing their own capitals in due course. The committee found this option not practicable.
3. Bifurcation of State into Rayala-Telangana and coastal Andhra regions, with Hyderabad being an integral part of Rayala-Telangana. The committee believes that this option may not offer a resolution which would be acceptable to people of all three regions.
4. Bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into Seemandhra and Telangana, with an enlarged Hyderabad Metropolis as a separate Union Territory. This Union Territory would have geographical linkage and contiguity via Nalgonda district in the south-east to district Guntur in coastal Andhra and via Mahboobnagar district in the south to Kurnool district in Rayalaseema. While there are some positives to this option, the committee felt it may be difficult to reach a political consensus in making this solution acceptable to all.
5. Bifurcation of the State into Telangana and Seemandhra as per existing boundaries, with Hyderabad as the capital of Telangana and Seemandhra to have a new capital. The Committee felt that this is the second best option. The Committee is of the view that given the long history of the demand for a separate Telangana, the highly-charged emotions, and the likelihood of continued agitation if the demand is not met, consideration has to be given to this option. The committee felt that the continuing demand for a separate Telangana has some merit and is not entirely unjustified. Separation is recommended only in case it is unavoidable and if this decision can be reached amicably amongst all the three regions.
6. Keeping the State united by simultaneously providing certain definite constitutional and statutory measures for socio-economic development and political empowerment of Telangana region through the creation of a statutorily-empowered Telangana Regional Council. The Committee considers that unity is in the best interest of all three regions of the state as internal partitions would not be conducive to providing sustainable solutions to the issues at hand. The Committee discussed all aspects of this option and while it acknowledges that there will be difficulties in its implementation, it found it to be the most workable option in the circumstances, and in the best interest of the social and economic welfare of the people of all three regions. The Committee expects that the initial reaction to this option will be total rejection by some political leaders, other groups and organizations, and a majority of the people from Telangana region, since their long-standing demand for a separate Telangana would not be met.
Telangana leaders say the best option from the Sri Krishna committee report is option 5, which calls for the formation of separate Telangana state with Hyderabad as its capital. They plan to pressure the Central government to zero in on option 5 as the only workable option.
The Telangana JAC steering committee, comprising experts from different fields, studied the Sri Krishana Committee report and came to the conclusion that the report was a " bunch of lies".
