Political, not peoples', interests the only decisive factor in Andhra Pradesh division; #Telangana #Samaikyandhra

By TSR Subramanian

(Originally appeared in The New Indian Express)

After dithering for many years, the Union Cabinet has made an announcement recently that Andhra Pradesh will be split into two—Telangana and Seemandhra. Andhra was created in the early 1950s and soon thereafter the States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) had proposed a formula, formally accepted by the then government, specifying language as the criterion for future division of states.

Telugu is the language of about 14 crore Indian citizens; Andhra Pradesh could be termed the 14th largest ‘country’ in the world. When such a large part of India is to be split, and when the separation is to be between people who speak the same language and share the same culture, one would expect a much greater degree of preparation, prior consultation among all interests, and a broad agreement on the major contours of the implementation. It is astonishing that the final decision clearly was the result of a sudden spurt of ‘inspiration’—there was as much preparation as in cutting a large birthday cake. Indeed, the conclusion is inescapable that the main consideration related to a crude and cynical assessment of the number of MPs that the ruling party in Delhi could garner from the bifurcation.

Ultimately, such a major decision, affecting crores of Indians, is triggered by prospects of minor parliamentary benefit to the ruling party—the concerns, impact, and consequences for such a large state, sharing the same language, clearly were callously not taken into account.
A child would have predicted that the question of the capital of Telangana and Seemandhra would loom large as one requiring a broad prior consensus. We note that Hyderabad is more than 150 km north of the proposed Seemandhra border; most of Seemandhra/Rayalaseema citizens would have to go through a long road ‘corridor’ to go to the state capital—the implications of this had not been thought through. As an alternative, a new capital at Vijayawada or elsewhere in Seemandhra was not mooted in advance to build a consensus. Indeed, even the contours of the proposed Seemandhra, in effect bifurcating Rayalaseema (part to join Telangana and the rest to be with Andhra), was finalised after some changes —not based on any local population parameters or other requirements, but simply on a crude electoral estimation of potential benefit in the form of MP seats to the ruling party in Delhi—how much more callous and cruel can the administration be?

Even now it is not clear whether the Andhra Assembly will approve of the proposal to divide the Pradesh; it is not clear whether the Centre will overrule any adverse decision. Is it fair and proper to leave such major issues hanging in the air, while announcing the dismemberment of a large state, breaking up the Telugu peoples, based on short-term considerations of the Centre? Note that the creation of Uttarakhand (from Uttar Pradesh), Jharkhand (from Bihar) and Chhattisgarh (from Madhya Pradesh) was done after considering all aspects, getting the opinion of the people concerned in the proposed new states (as well as the ‘rump’), with a clear picture of where the new capital will be. Would Uttarakhand have accepted Lucknow as its capital? Or Jharkhand agreed to split Patna as joint capital with Bihar—likewise in Madhya Pradesh? It is astonishing how the issue of respective capitals of proposed Telangana and Seemandhra could be dealt with in such a cavalier manner.

Empirically, there is no evidence that smaller or bigger states are more conducive for better administration; much like the productivity of large or small farms is size-neutral—the decisive factor is the quality of management. Besides it is not the wisest thing to embark on divisions of states without pre-specifying the principles; in this case, the cart has been placed before the horse, in the sense that a second SRC could have been established to delineate the parameters. The present decision will sooner or later trigger new demands in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra among others, with equal or greater logic—one presumes that with the crass momentary-benefit approach by the Centre, these also will get decided based on the perceived benefits (i.e. one or two MPs this way or the other) to the ruling party. How unprincipled can governance be?

The Indo-Pak (now Bangladesh) border was settled in the course of two days by a surveyor, who essentially took a map and drew a line across it. That was the time when this issue had to be settled in a terrible hurry, as the Indian independence had been agreed upon. In the Andhra case, the Centre fiddled its thumb for 15 years before delineating the border in the course of two days, much like the British surveyor did during Partition in 1947— clearly, the emergency this time related to the impending 2014 elections. Imagine if there were a scramble at that time as to whether the East Pakistan capital should also have been located at Kolkata, then known as Calcutta—the dispute for Hyderabad as capital is of a similar nature. This piece is not expressing an opinion on whether Andhra should be divided or not; it is only a lament that expediency, short-term political interest of Delhi are the decisive factors—the Telugu-speaking peoples’ interests are not relevant.

http://newindianexpress.com/magazine/voices/Political-not-peoples-interests-the-only-decisive-factor-in-Andhra-division/2013/11/10/article1877969.ece

About the author: TSR Subramanian is a former cabinet secretary & IAS Officer 

Was it necessary to divide #Andhra Pradesh? By Kuldip Nayar #Samaikyandhra #Telangana

By Kuldip Nayar  

Apparently, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who okayed the creation of Telangana for formal decision by the cabinet, did not anticipate angry reaction of the rest of Andhra, called Seemandhra. When there is blackout, no water supply, no transport, no fuel and powerless mobiles, the mood in Seemandhra is that of now or never.

The centre could have gauged the sentiment by proceeding with what the constitution says. It is laid down that the state assembly should be consulted. True, in the house of 294, the Seemabdhra’s 179 members would have stalled a resolution on the creation of Telangana. But then the constitution says that there should be consultation, not concurrence.

The exercise would have enabled to foresee the extent of aggressiveness which even intelligence agencies failed to report. Probably, the anger in Telangana was no less when it was up in arms. Yet the centre had resisted the state’s bifurcation although the agitation was at its fiercest during the days of Chenna Reddy, once the state’s chief minister. Then the Congress president, K. Kamaraj, from the south had his ears to the ground. Sonia Gandhi, sitting at New Delhi, is not familiar with the ground realities of the state.

Was it necessary to divide Andhra Pradesh? This was the first linguistic state. The States’ Reorganization Commission that followed the creation of Andhra Pradesh recommended the creation of Telangana. Yet the centre stuck to a united Andhra Pradesh in the larger interest.

The Telugus enthusiastically welcomed the creation of Andhra Pradesh because the Telugu-speaking areas were retrieved from the Madras Presidency and amalgamated with Andhra Pradesh. The question that remains unanswered is why so much hostility has come to surface when Telangana is constituted.

After all, it is going to be part of India. Ambitious politicians are responsible for cultivating hostility. There can be fear that Telangana is more or less the old state of Nizam where razakars (armed men) were ruling the roost. But the state is strong enough to curb such a tendency. Also the Nizams encouraged razakars and dreamt of joining Pakistan.

Politicians eye the loaves of office that a new state would create. That greed may be the reason why state chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has not resigned even when he is for a united Andhra Pradesh. Had he resigned it would have come as a jolt to the Congress high command and probably things would have taken a different turn.

Indeed, the Congress has in mind the next elections where it expects to sweep Telangana. It is tragic that politics has held its sway over the interest of the people of Andhra Pradesh. Its bifurcation would create problems for both the states like water disputes because River Krishna flows into both the proposed states. It is still not late to annul the decision.

Probably, the services of Congress-vice-president Rahul Gandhi would have to be harnessed. If he could undo the ordinance to shield the convicted politicians and force the union cabinet to rescind its decision he would be able to undo the division of Andhra Pradesh as well. Indeed, it was ridiculous to introduce in parliament a bill to overcome a Supreme Court judgment that the MPs and MLAs will cease to be members of the respective houses and disqualified the moment they are convicted.

The bone of contention between Telangana and Seemandhra is Hyderabad. The proposed bifurcation will have Hyderabad as their joint capital for 10 years. Why not permanently? When Punjab was divided, it was announced that both Punjab and Haryana would have separate capitals and Chandigarh would be a union territory. The two states found that a joint capital was useful and convenient. So much so, the lawyers of both the states opposed to the centre’s proposal to have a separate high court in Haryana. The proposal had to be withdrawn.

The argument that Seemandhra does not touch the border of Telangana where Hyderabad is located is not convincing. Both states open in the other states. All belong to the Indian nation. Why then the opposition to have Hyderabad as the joint capital? It is, however, unfortunate that government servants of the proposed Telangana have threatened that Seemandhra’s government servants must have their own setup in Hyderabad itself. Such tendencies must be curbed with a strong hand because they impinge on the country’s unity.

The centre has also closed its eyes on the renewal of demand for the creation of other states. Vidarbha, Gorkahaland and some other states in the northeast have again begun agitating after the announcement of Telangana. The state governments are helpless when the centre announces Telangana without bothering about repercussions.

It is not understandable why New Delhi has created another problem when it is already reeling under deteriorating economic conditions on the one hand and uneasy burdens with China and Pakistan on the other. Maybe, the announcement of Telangana is meant to divert attention from other pressing problems the country is facing today. This is perhaps the Congress way of tackling them.

The government has done well in resisting the demand for the appointment of another States Reorganization Commission. It would have opened a Pandora’s Box. I recall the passions aroused when the commission was appointed. There were so many claims which were equally conflicting that it was difficult to arrive at any decision which ultimately the commission made.

The commission made two points as far back as in 1985 when it submitted its report. Both points are as truer today as they were then. One, whether the states are reorganized or not they will continue to be an integral part of the Union which is the real political entity and the basis of our nationhood. Two, the constitution recognizes citizenship for the entire people of India, with equal rights and opportunities throughout the union. The proposed state of Telangana is, no doubt, a wrong decision. Yet the 28th state, if constituted, will keep in mind that the citizenship is one, with equal rights.

Kuldip Nayar is a veteran journalist, human rights activist and a noted author.

Originally appeared in:
http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/10/20/comment/the-vexatious-issue-of-telangana/

A tale of two states: 'Happy Birthday #Andhra Pradesh' has a sad tinge today #samaikyandhra #telangana

By T S Sudhir, Editor (South India) at TV Today

'Happy Birthday Andhra Pradesh' has a sad tinge to it today. For this November 1 could well be the last Andhra Pradesh Formation Day that the state is celebrating in its present form. If the Congress has its way, by December, the state would be cut into two to create a new state of Telangana with ten districts while the remaining 13 districts would continue to call themselves Andhra Pradesh.

In 1956, Andhra Pradesh was the first state to be formed on linguistic basis. In 2013, that will fade into history.

By all accounts it has been a messy divorce, with court proceedings (read appeals in the Delhi Durbar by people from Andhra Pradesh) virulent, emotional and ugly. That is because people from the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions think they have been given a raw deal. They believe both in the short term and long term, the new Andhra Pradesh or Seemandhra is going to be unviable. A flop state, condemned to doom, from day one.

"Telugu speaking people will lose both politically and economically in a big way. But then if that is a choice that the Telugu speaking people have made consciously, they you cannot complain about it,'' rues Jayaprakash Narayan, President of the Loksatta Party. Narayan who is an MLA from Hyderabad city, is in favour of Telangana but objects to the manner in which the state is being bifurcated.

Interestingly, that it has been a case of 'winner takes all' is a sentiment shared even by Telangana politicians in private. They gloat that they have successfully managed to convince the powers-that-be in Delhi that the "historical mistakes of the past" should be corrected by being overgenerous to Telangana.

Andhra Pradesh sends 42 MPs to the Lok Sabha, the highest in south India. Since 1996, this contingent has played a central role in governments at the Centre, be it the Telugu Desam in 1996, 1998 and 1999 or the Congress in 2004 and 2009. Now Telangana state with 17 MPs and Seemandhra state with 25 MPs, will find their political clout considerably reduced.

"Size matters," points out D A Somayajulu, former Economic Affairs Advisor to Andhra Pradesh government and now a leader with the YSR Congress. "Now we are going to lose this size. So no one will take you seriously. Does anyone take Mizoram seriously the way they take a big state like Andhra Pradesh. They wont.''

But reduced political clout is not the only reason why many feel that it is a lose-lose situation for both states. People of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema are ruing that since Hyderabad will longer be their state capital, it will take away the magnetic power the state had to attract investors.

"Any division will have its advantages and disadvantages. For the people of Seemandhra, losing a capital city like Hyderabad, a city that has been developed over decades is a loss. They cannot replicate even if they are given 2 or 3 lakh crores. That kind of money can create infrastructure but it cannot create an economy,'' says K Nageshwar, political analyst.

Somayajulu argues that the administrators of Andhra Pradesh erred by putting all the goodies in the Hyderabad basket as a result of which there is a world of difference between the the state capital and other cities in the state.

"In 2012-13, Andhra Pradesh had a software turnover of 55000 crores out of which Rs.54800 crores was from Hyderabad. Which means 99.9% is from Hyderabad. This means the engine of economic growth is in Hyderabad while the rest of Andhra Pradesh will have only compartments with no engine. That too at a time when agriculture constitutes just 15-16 per cent of GDP. So you cannot have 84 per cent on one side and 16 per cent on the other. Not the best way to divide a state," he says.

According to the Andhra Pradesh finance ministry, Hyderabad accounts for 70 per cent of Andhra Pradesh's tax revenues. In 2012-13, of the state's revenues of 69146 crore rupees, Rs.48400 crore came from Hyderabad and its neighbouring Ranga Reddy district. The revenue from rest of Telangana was Rs.6206 crore, coastal Andhra Rs.10729 crore and Rayalaseema Rs.3809 crores.

However the Justice Srikrishna committee which studied the situation in Andhra Pradesh, believed that Hyderabad as the bone of contention is over hyped. In its 505 page report submitted in January 2011, it said this about economic viability : "Telangana as a new state can sustain itself both with and without Hyderabad. The other combination of regions - coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema - together can also sustain themselves as a state; in fact they can sustain themselves separately.''

The committee's report pointed out that the Telangana region (excluding Hyderabad) ranks 15th in the list of 28 states in terms of absolute GDP. Including Hyderabad, its rank moves up to 13th place. Interestingly, coastal Andhra ranks 13th too in terms of GDP. The laggard is Rayalaseema, whose per capita income is below the all-India average.

Former director of Centre for Public Policy and a votary of Telangana, Dr Gautam Pingle therefore believes that this fear of Seemandhra being a Bimaru state is just not true. "If they are bimaru, we are also bimaru. We are in fact worse off. They have capital, entrepreneurship. For last 150 years, they had 2 million acres under both the deltas, thanks to the Brits,'' says Dr Pingle.

However, that has not prevented the battle for a united Andhra Pradesh from becoming a battle to retain control over Hyderabad, some way or the other. Votaries of status quo argue that it is because they are also interested in Hyderabad's prosperity. Being made the capital of a Telangana state, they argue, is killing Brand Hyderabad.

"If it were not to be the capital of a large state like AP, and be just be an erstwhile princely state like Mysore, Junagadh or Gwalior, it would have deteriorated and degenerated. But because it became the capital of a large prosperous state with two deltas, long coastline, minerals, Hyderabad prospered. Now if it were to become the capital of a state with just 17 Lok Sabha seats and not much economic activity in the hinterland of Hyderabad, then Hyderabad will be lost even before the next 10 years. It will be an insignificant metropolis,'' argues Parakala Prabhakar, a votary of united Andhra Pradesh.

However, Telangana activists say that it is time Seemandhra moved on, instead of crying hoarse that all is lost by losing Hyderabad.

"If we took the same view, we would go to Bangalore ten years ago. Because ten years ago, Hyderabad was not an IT hub, Bangalore was. So you have to start somewhere. If you want to present yourself as a location that is favourable and profitable, there is no point saying, we lost Hyderabad," says Pingle.

But Hyderabad is only one part of the issue in this tale of two states. The region whose concerns are being ignored the most in this entire division debate is Rayalaseema, which for all practical purposes, is even more backward than Telangana. Not everyone is confident that the two regions of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema will continue as one state for too long. They point out that culturally and in terms of prosperity and work ethic, people from the two regions are very different. The apprehension is that Rayalaseema will be seen by people of coastal Andhra as a burden, almost like poor cousins. Especially since the region does not have the kind of resource base that coastal Andhra has.

"Rayalaseema's concerns and future are far more important than Hyderabad. Far too many people are focusing on Hyderabad. But we are ignoring central issue of 16 million people. They are most backward districts of India. There is a genuine sense of being orphaned. If we do not address that, we are not really finding a solution,'' says Jayaprakash Narayan.

Which is why there is almost a consensus that Rayalaseema that consists of four districts may want to break away from coastal Andhra, sooner than later. That a trifurcation of present-day Andhra Pradesh will most certainly take place.

G Omkarnath, Professor of Economics at Hyderabad Central University sees an unviability in terms of Seemandhra surviving as one unit. "There would soon be forces who would play up in Rayalaseema. The same forces who came in Telangana will say look, we in Rayalaseema have our own identity and become a third state instead of two states, sooner or later. It calls for tremendous institutional engineering, political statesmanship, vision on part of polity as a whole,'' says Prof Omkarnath.

When advertising professionals Shashi Vadana Reddy and S K Swaroop got married 13 years ago, the fact that Shashi hails from Telangana and Swaroop from Vizag in coastal Andhra, hardly mattered. But now in a situation where Andhra Pradesh is about to be cut into two, Shashi has to walk that extra mile to ensure peace in her household. She says divisions run so deep that people from her side of the family do not even want to give one of their daughters in matrimony to a boy from coastal Andhra.

"Sometimes it becomes a bit heated. For instance, when my aunt comes over. She is totally into Telangana and has very extreme views on it. When she comes over, I make sure Swaroop is not around,'' says Shashi Vadana Reddy.

But it is not so hush-hush when it comes to Telugu films. The manner in which the Telugu film industry, dominated by people from coastal Andhra, portray people from Telangana as comedians, has always been a grouse with those from the region. If a new wave of Telangana filmmakers emerge, that could change though the argument is that films should be made for all nine crore Telugus and not for four crore in Telangana, five crore in Seemandhra and two crore living outside the state.

Eminent film producer D Suresh Babu predicts that there will be one set of filmmakers on both sides who will try to make extreme regional films. "If they have a broader appeal, they will do well across. But if they have only local appeal, they will do well only locally and will slowly die out. Because business needs better films. So they will also come back - the bigger Telangana director and the bigger Vizag director,'' says Suresh Babu.

The situation is worse when it comes to those practising purist cultural traditions. Varsha Bhargavi, a member of the International Dance Council of UNESCO, fears that dance forms that have their roots in coastal Andhra will find the doors of Hyderabad city as an art patron shut on them for ever.

"I feel the bifurcation will really affect the dance forms in Andhra Pradesh especially those performers based out of Vijayawada and Rajahmundry. Already many of them are not allowed to performed in Hyderabad city, which is really the place for the performing arts. We have seen a lot of negative views on Andhra Natyam dance form when we were performing at the Kakatiya dance festival in Warangal last year. We had to announce it as a temple dance tradition instead of Andhra Natyam,'' says Varsha Bhargavi.

If the borders of Andhra Pradesh are redrawn, future generations will witness water wars. That is the prediction, Seemandhra politicians like Kiran Kumar Reddy and Jaganmohan Reddy are making. Their argument is that river water sharing will at best be on paper, but never implemented in letter and spirit by the upper riparian state, which in this case will be Telangana.

Given the confrontationist nature of river water sharing disputes between Karnataka and Tamilnadu and even Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, people from Seemandhra region predict that this division will sound the deathknell for agriculture in coastal Andhra. They point to Andhra Pradesh's experience with Tungabhadra which is jointly managed by Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

"We hardly get 50 per cent of the water allotted to us in any year. In the years of flooding, anyway water will come. But in normal years, we do not even get water that is allotted to us. So now you will have another state created and this state with all its resources can utilise all this water. Who are you going to tell? What are we doing to Karnataka?'' says Somayajulu.

Interestingly, experts predict that Telangana region, that is largely dependent on borewells and tanks, and has seen many farmers burdened by debt killing themselves after their crop failed, could now see its agriculture take a turn for the better.

"Telangana agriculture might show more dynamism. Because they don't have a history of irrigation. Traditionally they have had tank irrigation but now tanks have been closing down due to real estate take over. But as they get more and more into river-based irrigation system, it will improve. Already Karimnagar, according to the Srikrishna committee report, is the rice bowl of Telangana. And the rice millers assocation of Karimnagar is very powerful politically,'' says Omkarnath.

Union ministers like Purandareswari and Pallam Raju from Seemandhra, reconciled to the inevitability of bifurcation, are now bargaining for a hefty package to develop the new state. But it will not be easy to attract private capital, unless juicy carrots are dangled. J A Chowdhary, Chief Mentor of The Indus Entrepreneurs points out that if any industrialist has to set up operations in Seemandhra, he will look for incentives such as tax breaks, both sales tax and income tax.

Analysts also warn Seemandhra against making the mistake Andhra Pradesh did and advise the state's future rulers to develop several industrial hubs across the two regions.

But it is not as if everything is hunky dory for Telangana state. Over focussing on Hyderabad could be a strategic error as would be to use the city only as a money-minting machine for the state exchequer. Experts point out that huge differences within Telangana - between a tribal Adilabad and a Mahbubnagar prone to large scale migrations - will have to be reconciled in a more socialist development ecosystem.

Many like chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy have argued that the lights will be off the moment Telangana becomes a separate state. That is because it will be a power deficit state. Telangana region now produces 57 million units in a day, but consumes about 115 million units. If the lift irrigation schemes in Telangana were to be implemented, it would need another 175 million units everyday. Which means the state will face a daily shortfall of over 200 million units. The result will either be loadshedding or a drain on the state exchequer to buy power from other states.

Telangana leaders admit the power situation will remain a concern in a future new state but say they will manage it. "Hyderabad is the hinterland of Telangana and is the economic engine that drives Andhra Pradesh today and will drive Telangana tomorrow. So Telangana being a surplus state can buy power from Andhra or Chhattisgarh and if we get grid connectivity, even from the north east. If power is the only issue, there are avenues to make up for the deficit. But yes, we admit that Telangana as on today will be short on power," says K T Rama Rao, TRS leader.

For the last four years, Andhra Pradesh has been a house divided, a case of Us versus Them, with the differences on regional lines completely exposed. But the real test starts now. For people in both states. They need to ensure that while united they stood, divided too they will not fall.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/andhra-pradesh-telangana-seemandhra-andhra-pradesh-formation-day/1/321182.html

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/andhra-pradesh-telangana-seemandhra-andhra-pradesh-formation-day/1/321182.html

Centre’s move on all-party meet puzzling: #Telangana #Samaikyandhra

From The Hindu, 1 Nov 2013

 

By inviting political parties for another round of consultations on Telangana even while it is hurtling towards the direction of dividing Andhra Pradesh, the Centre has made its plans about the future of the State quite suspect.

As alleged by Seemandhra protagonists earlier, the Congress is again putting the cart before the horse. It did so earlier when it began the process of consulting stakeholders through the Antony Committee after the Congress Working Committee and the Union Cabinet approved the proposal for creation of Telangana. It is a different matter that the Committee was still born.

Also, consultations with political parties at this juncture appear strange, as the Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Home Minister S. K. Shinde has completed two meetings and is scheduled to hold the third one on November 7. On the other hand, top officials are moving back and forth from Delhi for consultations at a speed uncharacteristic of the government to prepare the ground for the November 7 meeting.

Mr. K. Vijay Kumar, senior security advisor the Ministry of Home Affairs, is camping in Hyderabad since three days to discuss a range of issues from sharing of police assets to developing a joint mechanism to ensure the security of software establishments.

The Centre’s latest invitation to parties has drawn comparisons with the CWC’s sudden decision on July 30 in the sense that both are alleged to have been motivated by political considerations. While it was votes and seats that mattered then, the objective now appears to expose Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu for his ambiguous stand on Telangana.

Mr. Naidu’s is the only major party that has not stated in clear-cut terms whether it is in favour of unified Andhra Pradesh or separate Telangana. Indeed, it has given a letter in support of bifurcation, but Mr. Naidu is now singing the tune of that the Centre must render justice to Seemandhra before proceeding with the division. The Centre wants to pin him down to taking a stand and pre-empt him from riding two horses simultaneously.

This is the conclusion that can be drawn from the Home Ministry seeking suggestions from parties on various issues spelt out in the GoM’s Terms of Reference.

Centre's game plan

The less charitable inference is that the Centre is resorting to a game of deferring implementation of its decision on Telangana and bring to heel the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) which is in no mood to oblige the ruling party with the offer of merger until passage of a Bill in Parliament.

On the same plane, the Congress badly needs to do something to give an impression of broad-based consultations to its unilateral decisions that have totally alienated the party from the people in Seemandhra. This is also essential to get wider support in Parliament for the Constitutional amendment that would be necessary to deal with Article 371 (D).

Fear among ‘T’ people

Amid these fast-paced developments, there is fear among Telangana supporters that the Centre may take the issue back to Square One.

One indication is the Home Ministry’s individual letters which say that the GoM will interact with “representatives of your political party”.

The Congress and the Telugu Desam are sure to depute one leader each from Telangana and Seemandhra, who will speak in diametrically opposite voices and add to the confusion.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/centres-move-on-allparty-meet-puzzling/article5303390.ece

November 1st - #Andhra Pradesh Formation Day! - Early history of #Telugu speaking people #samaikyandhra #telangana

A Glorious Day In The History of India: November 1st - #Andhra Pradesh Formation Day!

Montage below showing (Clockwise) Charminar, Tirumala Tirupati Temple, Rajamundry Barrage Over River Godavari , Lepakshi Nandi Bull, Kakatiya Thoranam (Arch)

Kondaveedu Fort - Guntur

Kakatiya Sculpture - Warangal

 

Pillar At Ahobilam Temple - Kurnool

Early history of #Telugu speaking people 

 

The first historical records appear in the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya, when what is now the Nizamabad and Adilabad districts of the Telangana region constituted parts of the Assaka Mahajanapada (700–300 BCE)[11] An Andhra tribe was mentioned in the Sanskrit epics such as Aitareya Brahmana (800 BCE) and Mahabharata (400 BCE).[12] The Natya Shastra written by Bharatha (1st century BCE) also mentions about the Andhra people.[13] The roots of the Telugu language have been seen on inscriptions found near the Guntur district[14] and from others dating to the rule of Renati Cholas in the 5th century CE.[15]

Megasthenes, a Greek traveller and geographer who visited the Court of Chandragupta Maurya (322–297 BCE), mentioned that the region had three fortified towns and an army of 100,000 infantry, 200 cavalry, and 1,000 elephants. Buddhist books reveal that Andhras established their huts or tents near the Godavari River at that time.[16]

Inscriptions shows that there was an early kingdom in coastal Andhra (Guntur District) ruled first by Kuberaka and then by his son Varun, with Pratipalapura (Bhattiprolu) as the capital. Around the same time, Dhanyakatakam/Dharanikota (present day Amaravati) appears to have been an important place, which was visited by Gautama Buddha. According to the ancient Tibetan scholar Taranatha: "On the full moon of the month Chaitra in the year following his enlightenment, at the great stupa of Dhanyakataka, the Buddha emanated the mandala of 'The Glorious Lunar Mansions' (Kalachakra)".[17][18]

The Mauryans extended their rule over Andhra in the 4th century BCE. With the fall of the Maurya Empire in the 3rd century BCE, the Satavahanas became independent. After the decline of the Satavahanas in 220 CE, the Ikshvaku dynasty, Pallavas, Ananda Gotrikas, Rashtrakutas, Vishnukundinas, Eastern Chalukyas, and Cholas ruled the land.[19]

Scholars have suggested that the Prajñāpāramitā Sutras, the earliest Mahayana Sutras,[20][21] developed among the Mahāsāṃghika along the Krishna River in Andhra country.[22] A.K. Warder holds that "the Mahāyāna originated in the south of India and almost certainly in the Andhra country."[23] Sree Padma and Anthony Barber note that "historians of Buddhist thought have been aware for quite some time that such pivotally important Mahayana Buddhist thinkers as Nāgārjuna, Dignaga, Candrakīrti, Aryadeva, and Bhavaviveka, among many others, formulated their theories while living in Buddhist communities in Andhra."[24] They note that the ancient Buddhist sites in the lower Krishna Valley, including Amaravati, Nagarjunakonda and Jaggayyapeta "can be traced to at least the third century BC[E], if not earlier."[24] The Dzogchen, Mahamudra and Lamdré masters Sri Singha, Savari, Maitripa and Virupa lived and taught in the Andhra region for some portion of their lives or were in some cases permanent residents.[25]

During this period,[clarification needed] Telugu emerged as a popular language, supplanting Prakrit and Sanskrit.[26] Telugu was made the official language by the Vishnukundina kings (5th and 6th centuries), who ruled from their capital city of Vengi. Eastern Chalukyas ruled for a long period after the decline of Vishnukundinas; their capital was also Vengi. As early as the 1st century CE, Chalukyas were mentioned as being vassals and chieftains under the Satavahanas and later under the Ikshvakus. The Chalukya ruler Rajaraja Narendra ruled Rajahmundry around 1022 CE.[27]

The battle of Palnadu (1182) resulted in the weakening of the Eastern Chalukya dynasty and led to the emergence of the Kakatiya dynasty in the 12th and 13th centuries CE. The Kakatiyas were at first vassals of the Rashtrakutas, and ruled over a small territory near Warangal. Eventually all the Telugu lands were united by the Kakatiyas. In 1323 CE, Delhi Sultan Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq sent a large army under Ulugh Khan to conquer the Telugu country and captured Warangal. King Prataparudra was taken prisoner. Musunuri Nayaks recaptured Warangal from the Delhi Sultanate in 1326 CE and ruled for fifty years

From Wikipedia

A Glorious Day In The History of India: November 1st - #Andhra Pradesh Formation Day!