Telangana state on!

After 12 days of massive agitations and drama, the Union Government of India has agreed to form a state of Telangana. Agitations have been going on the the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh demanding a separate state, and the chief of Telangana Rashtra Samithi,K Chandrasekhar Rao, has been on a fast unto death for the last 12 days.

Agitations were unceasing ever since KCR went on his fast. As his health deteriorated, the Telangana agitations gained momentum. Members of other parties in the state – especially Congress – too started wavering, and some of its party members started expressing their support for the formation of a separate state of Telangana, carved from the current Andhra Pradesh state.

Today (10 Dec 2009), the Home Minister of India, P Chidambaram announced that the “process of forming the Telangana state will be initiated. An appropriate resolution will be moved in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.” Andhra’s chief minister Rosaiah had already appealed to Chandrasekhar Rao to end his fast a couple of days back.

TRS, which was at the forefront of the Telangana agitation, was formed on this one single issue of a separate state, after its chief KCR left the Telugu Desam Party. The party had its best performance in the Lok Sabha elections before the last, when it partnered Congress in government formation and fought elections together. However, Congress slowpedalled the demand for Telangana, and KCR left the alliance.

Ever since he went on fast, Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh saw several incidents of violence and vandalism. The entire city shut down for a week, and the government struggled to bring the situation under control.

KCR has called off his fast claiming victory, but it is not over yet. The resolution in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly calling for a separate state of Telangana is only the first step. Normally, it takes around two years – but TRS has demanded a time-bound process for the formation of the state. Also, Telangana activists are insistent that they want Hyderabad as the capital of the new state of Telangana – something that might see a lot of resistance from the rest of Andhra Pradesh. Till a resolution on that is reached, the TRS has enough reason to keep the agitation on slow boil.

What is saddening is that the formation of the state had to take place after a breakdown in the law and order in the state capital. The Central and State governments have on the face of it, underestimated the force of the demand for the state of Telangana. Or, they knew how strong the demand was, and they tried to keep a lid on it. Another possibility is that the party in power in the Andhra Pradesh state and the Center always knew the popularity of Telangana – but needed a sufficiently strong agitation to justify the decision to form a state to the rest of the state and the country. If vandalism and violence are what is needed to create a new state in India in 2009, that is a sad state of affairs indeed.

There is also the fear that the formation of Telangana – after a violent agitation – will soon lead to similar demands from other states too for the formation of smaller states.