As Telangana turns 10, here are 10 things you should know about this young state

Carved out as a separate state through bifurcation of combined Andhra Pradesh, Telangana has completed a decade of its formation on Sunday (June 2).

Overcoming challenges, the fledgling state has emerged into one of the strongest and the most developed states of India in the last decade. The Federal takes you through the journey of Telangana, right from its struggle for statehood to a decade of making rapid strides in terms of development.

1. Achieving statehood

Telangana achieved the separate statehood after decades of intense struggle by the people in different phases, against the alleged bias in education, employment, allocation of funds for the development of backward areas of the region, provision of irrigation and drinking water facilities and exploitation of resources of the region by the Andhra rulers.

The first major struggle took place in 1968-69, which turned into a violent agitation claiming the lives of around 360 people in police firing in different parts of the region. It was crushed ruthlessly by the then Indira Gandhi government at the Centre.

2. How struggle bore fruit

After losing steam over the years, the movement for separate Telangana state was reignited by K Chandrashekar Rao by floating a political outfit – Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). The movement soon gained momentum and KCR received massive support from the people, which was reflected in the local body elections and later in the 2004 assembly elections. However, it met with stiff resistance from the Congress leaders in Andhra Pradesh.

The Telangana movement came back on track only after the untimely demise of then Andhra Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy in a chopper crash in September 2009. This was the last phase of the agitation, which began with the fast unto death by KCR in November 2009, forcing the UPA government to make an announcement on December 9, 2009, on the commencement of the process for separate Telangana state.

3. Unresolved issues with Andhra

There are a host of contentious issues that remain unresolved between the two Telugu states even after 10 years of bifurcation. Both the states are battling it in the tribunals over sharing of Krishna and Godavari waters.

Division of several assets as enumerated in Schedules 9 and 10 of AP Reorganisation Act, still remains a contentious issue.

Out of 91 PSUs, the division of 22 PSUs still remains unresolved. There is also a long-pending dispute between Telangana and Andhra over payment of electricity dues. Andhra Pradesh is demanding that Telangana pay the dues to the tune of ₹7,000 crore for the power that it supplied to Telangana.

4. How they arrived at name

According to Jayadheer Tirumala Rao, a scholar of history, the name Telangana is of Gondi origin. Rao asserts that it is derived from “Telangadh”, which means “south” in Gondi and has been referred in “Gond script dating back to about 2000 years”.]

One of the earliest uses of a word similar to Telangana can also be seen in a name of Malik Maqbul Tilangani (14th century CE), who was called the Tilangani, which implies that he was from Telangana. He was the commander of the Warangal Fort (Kataka Pāludu) and later Wazir— Minister under Firuz Shah Tughlaq.

5. TS vs TG

The Congress government in Telangana led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy earlier this year decided to change the state’s code from ‘TS’ to ‘TG’ in a Cabinet meeting. Reddy said the previous government chose ‘TS’ as per its whim, and no other state has a ‘state’ in its code. The latest change will reflect on all vehicle registration plates.

The then-ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) decided to use “TS” as the abbreviation for Telangana, which was created in 2014 by splitting from Andhra Pradesh. BRS was earlier known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which was changed to reflect their national aspirations. CM Reddy claimed that KCR chose the acronym “TS” to “match their party name”.

6. Telangana gets Hyderabad

Hyderabad will no longer be the joint capital of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. This will come into effect from Sunday, according to media reports. As per the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, “On and from the appointed day, June 2, Hyderabad in the existing state of Andhra Pradesh shall be the common capital of the state of Telangana and the State of Andhra for such a period not exceeding 10 years.”

According to Section 5(2) of the act, following the expiry of this period, Hyderabad would be the capital of Telangana and there would be a new capital for Andhra Pradesh.

7. How the dialects differ

If Andhra Pradesh was the first ever state to be formed on linguistic lines in 1956, ironically, a part of it – Telangana - that came into existence as a separate state on June 2, 2014, after a protracted struggle, is the first to prove that language is no more a factor in binding the people as a state.

Even in language, we find slight variations in the way Telugu is spoken in the two regions though there has been no difference in written form. Telugu as spoken in Andhra region, referred to as Andhramu, has greater Sanskrit influence while Telangana’s Tenugu has less of Sanskrit impact and forms part of the Dravidian group of languages. 

8. What Telangana gained

The Telangana movement thrived on the slogan – “Neellu, Nidhulu, Niyaamakalu” (water, funds and recruitments). Those leading the movement alleged that the region was facing discrimination from Andhra rulers.

After gaining statehood, Telangana was able to utilise its resources for itself, unlike in the past when they were “diverted to Andhra”. It was also able to utilise its water resources to a large extent. In the last 10 years, Telangana’s economy grew by three-fold with Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) registering a growth of 155.71%, which was among the best in the country, according to official figures. So was the per capita income of the state which grew at an average rate of 12.1% in comparison to India’s average PCI growth rate of 9.2%.

9. United by emotions

Though Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were bifurcated geographically, the emotional bonding between the people on either side remains intact.

Many feel that the people of Andhra and Telangana have come closer than they were before the bifurcation of the state. The flow of investments from Andhra has been on the rise in the last 10 years and so is the migration of Andhra people to Hyderabad for education and employment purposes.

Similarly, Andhra cuisine is popular than ever in Telangana where one can witness more Andhra food joints coming up in major urban centres. In Andhra too, one can see a surge in Hyderabadi Biryani outlets and Haleem centres.

10. Telangana’s new anthem

Telangana celebrated its 10th formation day with a new anthem, “Jaya Jaya Hey Telangana”. The song was written by Ande Sri and music was composed by Academy Award winner Keeravani.

The official rendition of the song (short version) was the highlight of the main official ceremony at Parade Grounds, Secunderabad. Chief Minister Reddy, his Cabinet colleagues, top officials and other participants stood up as the song was played.

Both Ande Sri and Keeravani were also present at the ceremony. It was an emotional moment for the poet who had penned the song 20 years ago. The song was adopted as the state’s official anthem after Congress came to power in December 2023.