The turn of the century brought in new challenges for Andhra Pradesh. The Telangana movement, always a potent undercurrent, continued during the 21st century, culminating in the division of unified Andhra Pradesh into two separate States — Andhra Pradesh and Telangana— in 2014.
Also Read: Chandrababu Naidu’s journey: A timeline of the NDA ‘kingmaker’ and Andhra’s longest-serving CM
State leadership and its vicissitudes offered another object of interest in the post-NTR years. The changeover from three decades of Congress rule to the Telugu Desam Party marked an key epoch in Andhra Pradesh politics. Yet another turning point came with the rise of YSR, and later, his son Jaganmohan Reddy.
And now, Chandrababu Naidu returns to the helm of an Andhra Pradesh of a different make from his earliest tenure as Chief Minister. As he takes on new issues and deals with the legacy of old ones, the political history of the region may serve as a key to deciphering the curious politics at work in the State today.
Congress comeback - with Telangana Rashtra Samithi in tow
Dr. YS Rajashekhara Reddy had quit the Congress (I) and joined the Reddy Congress during his maiden election in 1978. After the Reddy Congress was disbanded, he returned to the Congress and became the PCC president again in 1997 when TDP was in power and N Chandrababu Naidu was Chief Minister. He vowed to dethrone Chandrababu Naidu in 1999.
The push for Telangana intensified with the creation of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in 2001 by K. Chandrasekara Rao. By this time, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal had been created, breaking away from Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh respectively.
When it was time for the next elections in 2004, TRS forged an alliance with Congress. YSR had gained popularity with the public after a 1,450-km padayatra across the State in 2003. Congress won the majority; TRS, with five Lok Sabha seats and 26 Assembly seats, also announced its presence.
Taking over as Chief Minister in 2004 when the Naxal menace was at its peak, Dr. Reddy brought the Left-wing extremists to the negotiating table, taking them onboard the plank of development when they refused to lay down arms. He injected development in Naxal-dominated rural areas and launched several welfare programmes and irrigation schemes in a state which had recently witnessed rising rates of farmer suicides
However his reign was brought to an untimely end after his helicopter crashed on a hillock close to Kurnool, killing him and four others on September 2, 2009, while flying to Chittoor in south Andhra Pradesh
By this time, YS Jaganmohan Reddy has established himself as a politician in Kadapa district, he was a sitting Congress MP from Kadapa in 2009, during the time of his father’s death. On April 9, 2010, Mr. Reddy set out on an Odarpu Yatra (grieving yatra) to console those grieving because of YSR’s untimely demise.
In November 2010, after all attempts to get his due failed, Jagan quit the Congress party, resigning from his Kadapa Parliamentary constituency and his Pulivendula Assembly constituency as well. In March 2011, he established the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) and announced its presence by winning the by-election in Kadapa, with a record majority of 5.45 lakh votes.
Telangana movement and Srikrishna report
The demand for Statehood for Telangana continued to be a simmering current. In 2009, Karimnagar became the epicentre of the movement, after TRS president KCR launched a fast-unto-death demanding the formation of Telangana. Police arrested KCR in Karimnagar as he was on his way to launch the fast-unto-death in Siddipet. He, however, continued his fast while in hospital.
Following these developments, the Centre announced the formation of a separate State of Telangana on December 9, 2009; but did a volte face by December 23, 2009.
The reversal was met with further protests, with 17 pro-Telangana students launching a fast-unto-death in front in Osmania University.
A panel led by Justice (Retd.) B.N. Srikrishna, the Committee for Consultation on the Situation in Andhra Pradesh, was constituted on February 3, 2010, to find “a permanent solution” for the statehood issue. The exercise ahead of the panel was a massive one: it met 30 times, visited 23 districts and 35 villages and held interactions with about 100 organisations.
On January 6, 2010, the panel’s report was released to representatives of Andhra’s political parties on January 6, 2010 by the then Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram. “The united Andhra option is being suggested for continuing the development momentum of the three regions and keeping in mind the national perspective. With firm political and administrative management it should be possible to convey conviction to the people that this option would be in the best interest of all and would provide satisfaction to the maximum number of people in the state,” it suggested.
Protests in the State continued. One of the key moments was the ‘Million March’ called by the Joint Action Committee under the leadership of M. Kodandaram who was chosen as the leader at Kalinga Bhavan. The event was held in March 2011. The students of Osmania University, who broke the gates of the campus and pushed the concertina-wire, braved the police and converged at the Tank Bund promenade.
2013- 2014: Reorganisation into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
In December 2013, the Union Cabinet approved a Bill for the creation of Telangana State with 10 districts, setting in motion the eventual bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. The Cabinet approved most of the recommendations made by a Group of Ministers specifically constituted to consider this issue. The Cabinet approval followed after the Congress Core Group decided to adhere to a Congress Working Committee decision to create a Telangana with 10 districts.
The Samaikyandhra movement started with sporadic protests soon after the announcement of the division of the State by the Congress Working Committee on July 30. Andhra University students launched an indefinite hunger strike demanding reversal of the decision.
TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s remarks saying employees from coastal districts, working in Telangana region, would have no option but to go back to their respective districts, fuelled the agitation further. On August 2, a ‘Non-Political JAC’ with the involvement of various organisations, unions and members of the public was formed to spearhead the agitation, which had developed into a ‘mass movement.’
In the battle between the separatist faction and unified Andhra agitators, one side soon emerged victorious.
The Union government had accepted the agitators demand for separate statehood for Telangana. The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, which bifurcated unified Andhra Pradesh into two States, was notified on March 1, 2014 and came into force from June 2, 2014.
“The creation of a separate State of Telangana for the betterment of the social, economic, political and other aspirations of the people of that region had been a long standing demand. Pursuant thereto, the Government of India on 9th December, 2009 announced that the process for formation of a separate State of Telangana would be initiated. After wide-ranging consultations on 3rd October, 2013, the Government of India decided to bifurcate the existing State of Andhra Pradesh.” -- so read the introduction to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2014.
K. Chandrashekhar Rao became the first Chief Minister of Telangana and TDP’s Chandrababu Naidu became the first Chief Minister of residual Andhra Pradesh. In the united State Andhra Pradesh had 42 Lok Sabha seats and was the largest State in the south India. Now Andhra had 25 seats and Telangana had 17 seats
A major demand during the reorganisation was that of Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh. Under SCS, States receive funding in a 90:10 split (90% the Centre and 10% the State) as opposed to the usual 60:40 ratio. In a Rajya Sabha debate on February 20, 2014, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured that the SCS would be granted to Andhra Pradesh for five years; this was also seconded by BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu. But it was put on a back burner after the NDA government, under the aegis of PM Narednra Modi came to power.
Persuaded that the SCS was ruled out by the Union Government, Chandrababu Naidu, then part of the NDA alliance, agreed for the Special Package (SP), which included the recognition of the Polavaram irrigation project as a national project with full funding from the Centre, tax concessions and special assistance. This was termed as a betrayal by the Opposition parties, including the YSRCP.
On June 2, 2014, when Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh as India’s 29th State, the understanding was that Hyderabad would be the shared capital for 10 years. Mr. Naidu soon announced that a new capital for Andhra Pradesh would be developed at Amaravati, pooling together 33,000 acres of land from farmers of 29 villages, in the Guntur district. The city, expected to span 217.23-sq.-km area, was being planned as “a smart, green, sustainable city,” and was named for the capital of the Satavahanas in the 2nd century B.C, the ruins of which were located 25 km away from the planned city.
TDP exits NDA
In 2018, Mr. Naidu walked out of the NDA alliance. Political analysts say that Mr. Naidu had succumbed to pressure from the opposition, who were building up a strong campaign against the TDP, terming his volte-face from SCS to SP as a ‘betrayal of the State’. The TDP subsequently moved a no-confidence motion against the Modi government and joined hands with the Congress and rest of the Opposition ahead of the 2019 elections.
Ties between the parties had not been consistent— post the 2002 Gujarat riots, TDP was the first NDA ally to demand Mr. Modi’s resignation as Chief Minister. In April 2002, the TDP adopted a scathing resolution against Mr. Modi for failing to quell the violence and provide adequate relief and rehabilitation to communal riot victims.
Rise of YSR Congress and debate over capital
In 2019, TDP lost its mandate, with seasoned politician Chandrababu Naidu facing defeat at the hands of Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy, in what appeared to be an anti-incumbency wave. The YSRCP created a record by winning 151 Assembly and 22 Lok Sabha seats. Mr. Jagan had also endeared himself to the people with a 3648 km long padayatra across Andhra Pradesh.”People appeared to have responded well to his call to them to give him “one chance” having seen Mr. Naidu’s ‘evil rule for so many years’” an article in The Hindu noted.
The YSRCP win denoted further changes for the State and its capital. Post the win, the Andhra Pradesh government’s decision to have three capitals — Visakhapatnam as executive, Amaravati as legislative and Kurnool as judicial capitals respectively — brought the development of Amaravati to a halt. The YSRCP sought to decentralise administration by having three capitals, one each in the north coastal districts, the coastal stretch from West Godavari to Nellore and backward Rayalaseema.
Notably, Hyderabad ceased to be the common capital for the two States on June 2, 2024.
The return of TDP and Chandrababu Naidu
The lead-up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 witnessed several watershed movements.
First the arrest of Chandrababu Naidu last September for his alleged involvement in an AP Development Corporation project scam, worth Rs. 371 crore, led to tense moments in the State, with protests by TDP members. He was released on interim bail on October 31, 2023, after 52 days of judicial custody.
In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, as parties largely divided themselves along the lines of the INDIA bloc and NDA, all eyes were on Chandrababu Naidu to see what move he would make. In an official announcement in March 2024, TDP announced its alliance with the NDA, tying up the BJP and Jana Sena Party for the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections held simultaneously in the State on May 13. It fought 17 seats for the Lok Sabha elections, leaving BJP with six and JSP with two. For Assembly elections,TDP contested 144 seats, while BJP and JSP together contested 30, from a total of 175. The TDP won 16 Lok Sabha seats and 135 Assembly seats.
This has also made TDP an important coalition patner in the new government, as BJP has failed to get an absolute majority, even as the NDA coalition embarks on a third term.
After seven decades NDA flipped Rayalaseema’s dynamics, independently clinching 42 Assembly seats in the area where it did not have a strong foothold; which, till the splitting of the State in 2014, was majorly dominated by Congress.
YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s term was also at an end. YSRCP won 11 seats; its failure to win a bare minimum of 18 seats to qualify for the status of the Opposition party raised many an eyebrow.
Chandrababu Naidu was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh June 12, 2024, his second stint as Chief Minister of residual Andhra Pradesh, in addition to two more terms as the Chief Minister of unified Andhra Pradesh. JSP Chief Pawan Kalyan was appointed as Deputy Chief Minister.
In a post on X, Mr. Naidu said, “Our people of Andhra Pradesh have blessed us with a remarkable mandate. This mandate is a reflection of their trust in our alliance and its vision for the State. Together with our people, we shall rebuild Andhra Pradesh and restore its glory.”
