Andhra parting ... 29th State - Telengana is born .. the logo and more

With Andhra parting ways, a new State is born – and there is now the new Two States speaking the same language (other than Hindi). In the hilarious comical movie ‘Padikathavan’ (Uneducated Man) starring Dhanush and Tamanna -   the heroine’s  father is Samarasimha Reddy (Suman) a notorious don in Andhra ~ Dhanush would take the help of  Assault Arumugam (Vivek), a  (comedy)thug-for-hire…. He would land in Andhra and would in  ‘area-sharing’ discussion – speak of parts of Andhra being torn between them (Hyderabad is yours ~ Secunderabad is mine; Guntur is yours – Nellore is mine…) .. taking a quarter and giving more to the other don ……….. unfortunately, cine comedy has repeated itself on reality.

Thirteen years after he launched the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS)  In Apr  2001, with the sole aim of spearheading the separate state movement, K Chandrasekhara Rao (60) , took oath as the first Chief Minister of Telangana at 8:15 am on 2nd June 2014.  Emotions ran high as the audience, including many who witnessed the agitation which began in 1969, recalled the lives that had been sacrificed for the formation of the 29th state, including the many students who had immolated themselves. The bloody history dates back to  States Reorganization Committee  of 1953 and in Nov 1955, Andhra Pradesh assembly passed resolution providing safeguards for Telengana.   On Nov. 1, 1956, Telangana was merged with the Andhra state to form Andhra Pradesh. 13 years later there was massive revolt known as  Jai Telangana Movement launched by people in Telangana demanding a separate state. As conciliatory measure, the All-Party State Accord was signed. Indira Gandhi also announced packages for the region, styled an eight-point formula and a five-point formula.

Now after bifurcation, the new  capital city of Andhra is expected to come up somewhere near Vijayawada and Guntur, ~  mix of the iconic arch of the Kakatiya dynasty and Charminar will form the official logo of Telangana state.  The Pratyush Sinha Committee appointed by the Centre has recommended 163 posts of IAS, 112 of IPS and 65 Indian Forest Service officers for Telangana. For the new Andhra state, the Pratyush Sinha Committee has recommended 211 posts of IAS, 144 IPS, and 82 IFS officers.  Indian Express reports that  Chandrasekhara Rao will not be using the official CM bungalow at Begumpet in Hyderabad as he feels it is unlucky and inauspicious. Y S Rajasekhara Reddy who got the sprawling bungalow died in a helicopter crash in September 2009. His successor K Rosaiah resigned within 10 months. N Kiran Kumar Reddy faced chaotic times till he resigned as CM.  Land prices are already shooting up in the expectation of a new capital coming up in the region. A metro rail and high-speed corridor will connect the two cities.

  

It is history now as Telangana became the 29th state of India at the stroke of midnight on Sunday, triggering massive celebrations besides an hour-long dazzling display of fireworks around the Hussain Sagar Lake in Hyderabad.  The TRS, which spearheaded the separate statehood campaign for last 13 years, painted the city in pink — the official colour of the party. Giant cut-outs of TRS founder and chief minister designate Kalvakuntala Chandrasekhar Rao, large pink coloured balloons with his portrait emblazoned and festoons of the party flag, which has the outline of 10 Telangana districts, were put up in every vantage point of the city.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi turned the celebration into a massive people’s event. The party distributed sweets and packets of Hyderabadi biriyani to the tens of thousands of people gathered on the roads near the lake at night.  Daily mail reports that there will be no dearth of cross-border rows after redrawing geographies to cleave the 10-district Telangana and 13 districts in residual Andhra Pradesh. Sharing of assets and other resources between the successor states will be no less agonising than the pangs of partition in a quarrelsome family. Telangana  CM  K. Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to go to the Supreme Court to stall work on the Polavaram project demanding that those villages in Khammam district of Telangana transferred to Andhra Pradesh be retained. Mr Nara Chandrababu Naidu, is opposed to it and is demanding that the BJP government treat the Polavaram project as a national project and bear the entire expenses to complete it at the earliest.  Sharing of employees also  is posing challenges after it is found that ‘non – natives’ of Telangana want to be part of the state’s administration.

Two iconic monuments — the Kakatiya Kala Thoranam (the landmark of the region’s rulers between the 12th and 14th centuries), the fabled 423- year-old Charminar and the Ashoka emblem are emblazoned on it to lend it a popular appeal. That is the logo of the Government of Telangana, written on it in English, Telugu and Urdu. While the national emblem – the Sarnath pillar lions – is embossed in gold at the top, Satyamev Jayate is etched in Hindi in green at the bottom. It has been designed by Hyderabad-based artist Laxman Aelay.  Telangana will also have a state song — Jaya, Jayahe Telangana — which was played at 150-odd places several times over on Sunday night. Written by renowned lyricist Ande Sri, it became a popular song at rallies and protests during the separate statehood campaign. Only four of the 12 stanzas have been selected as the Telangana song.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

3^rd June 2014.