On June 2, 2014, when the composite State of Andhra Pradesh was divided into two States, the people were angry. They alleged that the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre had passed the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act without consulting key stakeholders and after consulting a few regional parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party in secret. To make matters worse for them, Hyderabad was to cease being the capital of Andhra Pradesh from June 2, 2024.
A brief history
To know what has changed in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana today, it is crucial to look back. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru consented to carving out the State of Andhra from Madras State in 1953, but only after the freedom fighter, Potti Sriramulu, began a fast-unto-death for a separate State in 1952 and died in the process. At that time, the new State of Andhra, which included Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra, did not include Hyderabad State. It was only after several deliberations that Andhra Pradesh, including Hyderabad State, came into being on November 1, 1956.
But discontent simmered between the people of Andhra and Telangana. This culminated in the violent Telangana agitation of 1969. In 1972, as a response to it, a counter movement called Jai Andhra began. It gained momentum after the Andhra Pradesh High Court and the Supreme Court upheld the Mulki rules. The rules were safeguards to ensure that Mulkis, or native residents, did not face difficulty in procuring government jobs in Telangana. The people of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema felt that the Mulki rules treated them as foreigners in their own land.
Though this agitation died down, the people of Telangana remained angry. This led to the agitation of 2013-14, led by K. Chandrasekhara Rao of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi. The Union government accepted the agitators demand for separate Statehood. Mr. Rao became the first Chief Minister of Telangana and Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party became the first Chief Minister of residual Andhra Pradesh.
Ever since Hyderabad State was merged with Andhra, the people of Telangana felt marginalised. Rich farmers from coastal Andhra Pradesh reportedly moved into Hyderabad and procured huge chunks of land. Ministers in successive Cabinets all hailed from Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra. The people of Andhra held a grip over industrialisation. All the key areas of the economy such as industry, agriculture, health care, and education were either under the control of the Reddys from Rayalaseema or the Kammas from Coastal Andhra. When Mr. Naidu started developing Hyderabad as an IT destination, contracts were given to people from these regions. This did not go down well with the people of Telangana, says former bureaucrat E.A.S. Sarma.
Political observers believe that such disillusionment would not have happened if the Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1956 had been followed. The Agreement was signed to provide safeguards to the people of Telangana. The safeguards included distribution of revenue and industries, representation in the Cabinet, domicile status, and importance to the local language and culture. But they were never implemented in letter and spirit. Under the agreement, Regional Standing Committees were formed independent of the Chief Minister to ensure that development is decentralised and every region in Telangana gets its share of development. But these failed too.
The failure of the Gentlemen’s Agreement is evident from the fact that of the 17 Chief Ministers who ruled composite Andhra Pradesh, 14 were from the Andhra region and a majority of them were either from the Reddy or Kamma community. Despite the share of these communities being relatively low in the State, they have ruled the political landscape.
After bifurcation
This brings us to the question, what is the scenario post-bifurcation? The main benefit is that the people of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh now have the space to articulate their concerns independently. The people of Telangana are now part of a separate State, which means that they are not dominated by politicians from Andhra Pradesh. Their local issues are highlighted. Issues such as riparian rights are addressed or at least being heard.
Meanwhile, the people of Andhra Pradesh who insisted that key resources from the region were being pumped into Hyderabad can no longer say that. It is the Chief Minister’s job to harness the resources of a region. How well the Chief Ministers of the State have been able to do this in the last 10 years is debatable.
The greatest benefit is that though there are two separate States today, there is little animosity among the people.
There are issues too. Some of the promises made in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, have been implemented, but others await implementation. An Indian Institute of Technology in Tirupati, an Indian Institute of Management in Visakhapatnam, and an All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in Mangalagiri have been set up, but projects such as the South Coast Railway Zone in Visakhapatnam remain in limbo in Andhra Pradesh. And significantly, the State now does not have a capital.
sumit.b@thehindu.co.in
Published - June 03, 2024 12:41 am IST
