A new state is born

It has taken 53 years to undo an unwanted merger — that of forming states on the basis of language alone. But the creation of Telangana is probably going to be as difficult as the dissolution of a marriage, particularly since it involves sharing of assets, resources and even drawing up a boundary. After that, it will still be a battle for political space in which all parties are expected to make a strong pitch.

When the states were reorganised way back in 1956, the Telugu-speaking region in the erstwhile Hyderabad state was not at all keen on being part of the Vishala Andhra, but then given the outlook of the Congress party in the region and at the national level, particularly after Potti Sriramulu gave up his life through a fast for integration of all Telugu speaking areas into a single state, the resistance to stay apart was easily broken.

Telangana has been in the making since then with a periodic upsurge in popular demand to split. The best of the formulae to keep the larger Andhra Pradesh state intact was always seen as a band-aid approach by those who nurtured the hope of keeping their pre-Independence identity intact. None of those prescriptions finally worked and in the last six years or so, the inevitability of forming Telangana was beginning to be seen by all political shades in the state.

It took a ten-day fast in a hospital by KC Chandrasekhara Rao and widespread protests by students of Osmania University to push the Congress leadership to finally declare that the aspirations of the people of Telangana would be met.

There are many who still believe a unified Andhra is a better bet, who think that the Congress leadership at the national level buckled under pressure and the government in the state misread and mishandled the situation. Since there was political consensus among all parties for the formation of Telangana, these were probably a trigger at best and it was only a question of time before the state was carved up. The anti-separatists, if one may call them that, are trying to build counter pressure to slow down the process of creating the new state and, by that, somehow maintaining the status quo.

Close to a 100 legislators from the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions representing major political parties — Congress, TDP and Praja Rajyam — have sent in their resignation letters. Such actions, as well as the accusation that the Congress acted unilaterally disregarding other political parties in the state, may fizzle out in the long run since even the centre probably cannot change the course it is now firmly set on.

The announcement of the formation of the new state is only the beginning of a set of new problems and it is not as if the deed is done with the declaration of intent. To start with, there has to be a resolution in the legislative assembly in Andhra Pradesh. That will happen speedily for sure. Thereafter, it has to be endorsed by Parliament and then necessary amendments to the Constitution will have to follow. These will take time.

Beyond this, there is of course the issue of drawing up the boundary between Telangana and Andhra. While leaders in Telangana have drawn up their own map, there could be some areas of contest. There is then the big question about the state capital itself.

Hyderabad is integral to Telangana so far as people from that region are concerned. Butthen this major metro has drawn people from all three regions of the state over years and there is bound to be pressure to turn the city into a union territory or a joint capital.

Quite apart from other administrative processes of sharing assets, there will also be questions about sharing resources such as river water. All these issues can be sorted only through a process of political and emotional adjustments. That can be a pretty complex process but the experience of carving up Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh from UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh would come in handy.

The new state is also bound to become an arena for competitive politics. While Telangana Rashtriya Samiti, as a regional party that spearheads the movement now for separation, may have a large play to start with, the national parties will try and carve out areas of influence in the new state as well.

A bigger fallout of the formation of Telangana is likely to be similar demands from several other regions in the country, which inherently believe they have received a raw deal in the development agenda and have suffered discrimination.

Whether it is Harit Pradesh or Bundelkhand, Gorkhaland or Vidharba, the clamour for decoupling may gather momentum not because separation is a magic wand for development but because political parties and groups will see an opportunity to have a better share of state power. As home minister P Chidambaram himself pointed out, language alone has not been able to bond people who perceive neglect. Reorganisation of states on the basis of language way back in 1956 was always criticised as being more an emotional response than a logical step. The story of Telangana seems to fully endorse that.