Telangana movement

After decades of protests and agitations, the central government, under the United Progressive Alliance, decided to bifurcate the existing Andhra Pradesh state and on 2 June 2014, the Union Cabinet unilaterally cleared the bill for the creation of Telangana.

Paragraph 374 of the SRC report said "The creation of Vishalandhra is an ideal to which numerous individuals and public bodies, both in Andhra and Telangana, have been passionately attached over a long period of time, and unless there are strong reasons to the contrary, this sentiment is entitled to consideration".

[30][31] Despite these electoral successes, some of the new party leaders gave up their agitation in September 1971 after realising that the Prime Minister was not inclined to towards a separate state of Telangana, and rejoined the safer political haven of the Congress ranks.

[39] In April 2002, Advani wrote a letter to MP A. Narendra rejecting a proposal to create Telangana state explaining that "regional disparities in economic development could be tackled through planning and efficient use of available resources".

[45] In February 2009 the state government declared that it had no objection, in principle, to the formation of separate Telangana and that the time had come to move forward decisively on this issue.

[57] On 23 December, keeping in view the reactions of people of other regions, the Government of India announced that no action on Telangana will be taken until a consensus is reached by all parties and groups in the state.

[59] A Joint Action Committee (also known as JAC or TJAC) comprising political and non-political groups was formed to lead the demand for separate Telangana with Osmania University professor M Kodandaram as its convenor.

[66][67][68][69] Days before the Srikrishna committee submitted its report to the Central government, KCR declared that his party was ready to wash Sonia Gandhi's feet if she agrees to the Telangana demand.

Noting the emotions in the general public about the issue, a perceived neglect in implementation of assurances given to the region, it also said that "The continuing demand, therefore, for a separate Telangana, the Committee felt, has some merit and is not entirely unjustified".

The judgement also quoted the SKC report's 8th chapter and said "The manoeuvre suggested by the Committee in its secret supplementary note poses an open challenge, if not threat, to the very system of democracy."

In a move to disrupt the march, seemandhra police arrested over thousand activists throughout the region and closed down entry to Hyderabad city by stopping certain transportation services and diverting traffic.

[104] On 1 November, Congress MLA Komatireddy Venkat Reddy started an indefinite hunger strike until the central government announced a roadmap for Telangana state.

[105] 5 days later, the fast was broken when police arrested him under Section 309 of IPC (attempt to commit suicide) and shifted him to NIMS, Hyderabad where he was kept under intravenous fluids.

[114][115] In September 2012, Sushilkumar Shinde, the newly appointed Home minister of India commented that the Telangana demand needs to be handled carefully since similarly carved smaller states saw increased Naxal problems.

[116] Addressing a public meeting in Nizamabad district, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi said that formation of a separate Telangana state is not possible and reaffirmed his party's stand on the issue.

[123][124] Anticipating violence and possibility of attack on properties of Andhraites,[125] Police initially refused permission to the march which is scheduled around the time of Ganesh Nimmajjan on 29 September and UN conference on Bio diversity[126] on 1 October.

[129] On 28 September, after long discussions between JAC leaders and ministers from Telangana region, the state government ignoring warnings about the possible breakdown of law and order, gave permission for the march.

The JAC leaders gave written assurance to the government that the agitation programme would be conducted in a peaceful and "gandhian" manner from 15:00 to 19:00 on 30 September on the Necklace Road on the edge of Hussain Sager lake.

Congress MPs from Telangana were arrested in front of Chief minister's office when they staged a dharna as they were not allowed to meet him over the detention of their party supporters who were stopped from reaching the venue.

[134] The mobs also set afire three police vehicles, a couple of media outdoor broadcasting vans, machinery and a temporary cabin room of a construction company.

[152] The chief minister directed the Director-General of Police at a high-level review meeting not to use even rubber bullets in their efforts and observe utmost restraint in maintaining law and order.

Amid fear of violence by Naxalites after an open letter claimed to have been written by them on the rally,[153] police sounded a high alert across the state and almost sealed all the arterial roads leading to the Assembly.

[155][156] On the day of the event in spite of the restrictions placed, police could not totally prevent Telangana activists from sneaking into prime locations and making a vain bid to rush towards the Assembly.

[164][165] The Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy met several MPs, MLAs and MLCs on 29 July in a bid to resolve the issue being taken up by the central Congress government.

[175] Meanwhile, the national Home Ministry opined that the lack of development in the proposed areas and the proximity to other hotbeds in Chattishgarh's Bastar and Maharashtra's Gadhidoli regions might cause an increase in Naxalism in Telangana Communist Party of India (Maoist) if the administration is not quickly consolidated.

He also charged that the CM had reprimanded him for seeking additional central forces for containing expected trouble in Seemandhra in the run up to the Congress Working Committee's Telangana resolution at the end of July.

[184] On 30 October, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde called for an all-party meeting, to be attended by representatives of national and regional parties of the state, to discuss the issues related to bifurcation.

[209][210] 27 Jan 2014: Chief Minister Kirankumar Reddy, gave notice to assembly speaker requesting to move resolution rejecting the Telangana bill.

[216] Union cabinet minister Jaipal Reddy said that the resolution to reject the Telangana bill was passed in the assembly by cheating and it has no statutory and political sanctity.

[220] On 13 February, Telangana bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, by Union home minister, Sushilkumar Shinde despite protests, disruptions of Seemandhra MPs.