Andhra looms large in my Weltanschauung. Notably, I lived in Hyderabad back in 2005-07, making many friends for a lifetime (in one case, hopefully longer) during my sojourn. Scores more over the years have hailed from Telugu-land. Rare among this breed, however, were those who believed possible what shall become a reality later this year (having lived through BR turning BR + JH, I was much more sanguine). Erstwhile AP shall split, and Telangana shall be State #29 of the Union, come June 2!
Much ink has been expended on the why. Of these reasons, none is cited with more vehemence or consistency than historicity. Indeed, the idea harks back to the India of sixteen mahajanapadas in the form of Assaka. Yet, through the Satavahana, Vakataka, Chalukya, Rashtrakuta, and Kakatiya periods, the borderlines remain fluid. Come the Nizams and the 1799 alliance (which gifts Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra to the British while retaining Telangana within Hyderabad) and the map starts to take shape. Then, of course, comes the Telangana rebellion against the Nizam and the Doras, building the groundswell for Hyderabad's merger with India and culminating in Operation Polo on September 17, 1948.
Enter Potti Sreeramulu. Overcoming Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's long-held opposition, a language-based Andhra state comes into being in October 1953—almost directly in consequence of Amarajeevi's sacrifice—comprising seven Coastal region districts along with four from Rayalaseema (and no Telangana!), with Kurnool as capital. Genie out of the bottle, demands to redraw the map of India on a linguistic-regional basis proliferate across the country, forcing Nehru to appoint a States Re-organisation Commission. This is where it turns into a veritable political thriller.
The SRC, headed by the PM's beloved Fazl Ali (and including the venerable KM Panikkar, HN Kunzru et al), recommends in 1955 the formation of separate Andhra and Hyderabad states, considering economic disparity and relative misalignment in public opinion with respect to unification. Note that this is entirely in line with Nehru's concerns around the “tint of expansionist imperialism” in the Telangana-Andhra merger, with the PM going so far as to compare it to a matrimonial alliance needing “provisions for divorce” if the partners cannot get on well. At the very least, the SRC indicates a five-to-six-year cooling period before considering Vishalandhra. In a strange u-turn, a forever-sceptical PM now overrides his own SRC, not to mention earlier JVP and Dar commissions, to deliver a unified Andhra Pradesh in 1956!
Much has been speculated about Nehru's rather uncharacteristic volte-face—whether driven by blackmail by Andhra elites, the spectre of a communist Telangana, threat of royalist-Muslim revival of Azad Hyderabad dream, or a Soviet-influenced vision of mega-states. Or, perhaps more characteristically, the idealist in him was taken in by the 'Gentlemen’s Agreement' (in the main for political power sharing with a CM/Deputy CM split, a 60:40 Cabinet composition, job protections via Mulki rules, no revenue surplus diversion, and oversight via a Regional Committee as a special legislative body). Regardless, Nehru wilted, and in so doing, virtually wrote the exact script of the subsequent movement and eventual division.
Of course, in the typical arc of history, it took a few years for the union to entirely unravel. The Agreement itself was violated almost at once: Deputy CM post frequently left vacant or abolished; job quotas bypassed; Telangana surplus diverted to fund major irrigation projects in coastal Andhra etc. The ground continued to simmer: over 350 students lost their lives in 1969's First Telangana Movement; TPS won 10 of 14 seats in 1971 only to be co-opted into the Congress ranks in true Indira style; the 1973 Jai Andhra counter-movement that led to abolition of Mulki protection; and NTR's 1985 Government Order 610 to repatriate non-local appointments etc. Much was promised, little delivered, and for a period it appeared that the Telangana demand had petered out.
Cut to 2000. Chandrababu Naidu was at the peak of his political prowess. Having secured a crushing victory to enter his second term in 1999 and deeply allied with the ruling NDA at the center, he was internationally celebrated as a tech-savvy "CEO" Chief Minister. The Congress, led by the feisty Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, was entirely unable to breach Naidu’s development-focused narrative. Against this backdrop, a certain K. Chandrashekar Rao, then Deputy Speaker of the Assembly and disgruntled at being denied a cabinet post, sensed a massive blind spot in Naidu's Vision-2020 plan: the severe agrarian distress and deep feelings of neglect in the Telangana region. He walked out of the TDP and formed the Telangana Rashtra Samithi. There has been no looking back since, and in just over a decade, the statehood demand has fructified.
Naturally, as clear catalysts, KCR-TRS are being feted for their contribution toward the realization of the Telangana dream. What is less obvious, and arguably more critical, has been the Congress's strategic role. India's GOP may or may not have orchestrated his exit from the TDP, but they intentionally elevated KCR to legitimacy, forming an alliance in 2004 and including a promise for the reorganisation of states in their common manifesto. With this, they fractured the TDP’s vote bank in Telangana, sending Naidu into a political wilderness for the last ten years. What's more, even in power, the Congress carefully sustained the Telangana issue on a slow burner to keep the TDP internally divided, utilizing this friction to encourage a steady stream of desertions that have severely hollowed out Naidu’s regional leadership. At least in Telangana, it appears bye-bye TDP.
Where does that leave the Congress? The bifurcation has clearly been inspired by massive anti-incumbency both nationally and regionally. Much of their woes are the outcome of a sense of entitlement and being too smart for their own good. This move looks no different. Thus, in the Congress high command's calculation, the division finishes Naidu off for good, checkmates a rising Jagan Mohan Reddy, and hopes to gain KCR as a long-term ally (or an eventual merger). I would be surprised by either outcome. Naidu will now double down on residual Andhra, and it is likely to be a two-way fight between him and Jagan for the foreseeable future. And KCR is unlikely to share power when he can reign absolutely. Eventually, the plan backfires on the Congress itself.
In summary, yes, one must justifiably expect celebrations galore in Telangana and KCR-mahal come June 2. And yet again, the fortunes of the country and its states have been held hostage to the Congress's partisan machinations and short-termist outlook. Chacha Nehru then, Sonia Gandhi now. Here's to hoping that this changes soon...
Much ink has been expended on the why. Of these reasons, none is cited with more vehemence or consistency than historicity. Indeed, the idea harks back to the India of sixteen mahajanapadas in the form of Assaka. Yet, through the Satavahana, Vakataka, Chalukya, Rashtrakuta, and Kakatiya periods, the borderlines remain fluid. Come the Nizams and the 1799 alliance (which gifts Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra to the British while retaining Telangana within Hyderabad) and the map starts to take shape. Then, of course, comes the Telangana rebellion against the Nizam and the Doras, building the groundswell for Hyderabad's merger with India and culminating in Operation Polo on September 17, 1948.
Enter Potti Sreeramulu. Overcoming Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's long-held opposition, a language-based Andhra state comes into being in October 1953—almost directly in consequence of Amarajeevi's sacrifice—comprising seven Coastal region districts along with four from Rayalaseema (and no Telangana!), with Kurnool as capital. Genie out of the bottle, demands to redraw the map of India on a linguistic-regional basis proliferate across the country, forcing Nehru to appoint a States Re-organisation Commission. This is where it turns into a veritable political thriller.
The SRC, headed by the PM's beloved Fazl Ali (and including the venerable KM Panikkar, HN Kunzru et al), recommends in 1955 the formation of separate Andhra and Hyderabad states, considering economic disparity and relative misalignment in public opinion with respect to unification. Note that this is entirely in line with Nehru's concerns around the “tint of expansionist imperialism” in the Telangana-Andhra merger, with the PM going so far as to compare it to a matrimonial alliance needing “provisions for divorce” if the partners cannot get on well. At the very least, the SRC indicates a five-to-six-year cooling period before considering Vishalandhra. In a strange u-turn, a forever-sceptical PM now overrides his own SRC, not to mention earlier JVP and Dar commissions, to deliver a unified Andhra Pradesh in 1956!
Much has been speculated about Nehru's rather uncharacteristic volte-face—whether driven by blackmail by Andhra elites, the spectre of a communist Telangana, threat of royalist-Muslim revival of Azad Hyderabad dream, or a Soviet-influenced vision of mega-states. Or, perhaps more characteristically, the idealist in him was taken in by the 'Gentlemen’s Agreement' (in the main for political power sharing with a CM/Deputy CM split, a 60:40 Cabinet composition, job protections via Mulki rules, no revenue surplus diversion, and oversight via a Regional Committee as a special legislative body). Regardless, Nehru wilted, and in so doing, virtually wrote the exact script of the subsequent movement and eventual division.
Of course, in the typical arc of history, it took a few years for the union to entirely unravel. The Agreement itself was violated almost at once: Deputy CM post frequently left vacant or abolished; job quotas bypassed; Telangana surplus diverted to fund major irrigation projects in coastal Andhra etc. The ground continued to simmer: over 350 students lost their lives in 1969's First Telangana Movement; TPS won 10 of 14 seats in 1971 only to be co-opted into the Congress ranks in true Indira style; the 1973 Jai Andhra counter-movement that led to abolition of Mulki protection; and NTR's 1985 Government Order 610 to repatriate non-local appointments etc. Much was promised, little delivered, and for a period it appeared that the Telangana demand had petered out.
Cut to 2000. Chandrababu Naidu was at the peak of his political prowess. Having secured a crushing victory to enter his second term in 1999 and deeply allied with the ruling NDA at the center, he was internationally celebrated as a tech-savvy "CEO" Chief Minister. The Congress, led by the feisty Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, was entirely unable to breach Naidu’s development-focused narrative. Against this backdrop, a certain K. Chandrashekar Rao, then Deputy Speaker of the Assembly and disgruntled at being denied a cabinet post, sensed a massive blind spot in Naidu's Vision-2020 plan: the severe agrarian distress and deep feelings of neglect in the Telangana region. He walked out of the TDP and formed the Telangana Rashtra Samithi. There has been no looking back since, and in just over a decade, the statehood demand has fructified.
Naturally, as clear catalysts, KCR-TRS are being feted for their contribution toward the realization of the Telangana dream. What is less obvious, and arguably more critical, has been the Congress's strategic role. India's GOP may or may not have orchestrated his exit from the TDP, but they intentionally elevated KCR to legitimacy, forming an alliance in 2004 and including a promise for the reorganisation of states in their common manifesto. With this, they fractured the TDP’s vote bank in Telangana, sending Naidu into a political wilderness for the last ten years. What's more, even in power, the Congress carefully sustained the Telangana issue on a slow burner to keep the TDP internally divided, utilizing this friction to encourage a steady stream of desertions that have severely hollowed out Naidu’s regional leadership. At least in Telangana, it appears bye-bye TDP.
Where does that leave the Congress? The bifurcation has clearly been inspired by massive anti-incumbency both nationally and regionally. Much of their woes are the outcome of a sense of entitlement and being too smart for their own good. This move looks no different. Thus, in the Congress high command's calculation, the division finishes Naidu off for good, checkmates a rising Jagan Mohan Reddy, and hopes to gain KCR as a long-term ally (or an eventual merger). I would be surprised by either outcome. Naidu will now double down on residual Andhra, and it is likely to be a two-way fight between him and Jagan for the foreseeable future. And KCR is unlikely to share power when he can reign absolutely. Eventually, the plan backfires on the Congress itself.
In summary, yes, one must justifiably expect celebrations galore in Telangana and KCR-mahal come June 2. And yet again, the fortunes of the country and its states have been held hostage to the Congress's partisan machinations and short-termist outlook. Chacha Nehru then, Sonia Gandhi now. Here's to hoping that this changes soon...
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