Celebrations as India gets new state of Telangana

At the stroke of Sunday midnight, when Telangana will be born as the 29^th state of the Indian Republic, Hyderabad will explode into celebrations with firecrackers, fragrant at that and brought in from Mumbai for the historic occasion, to be set off at 120 select points across the capital.

People from all walks of life are expected to hit the roads late evening to participate in the celebrations, a culmination of 60-odd years of struggle for separation from Andhra Pradesh and establishing its own identity. Though the focus of the mega event would be on Hyderabad, all the 10 districts in the youngest state of India would also erupt in celebration.

The city itself is swathed in pink, the colour of the flag of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which is credited with not only reviving the separate statehood movement but also sustaining it for 13 years under the leadership of K Chandrasekhar Rao, who will be sworn in as the first chief minister of Telangana at 8.15am on Monday. Huge cut-outs of KCR, as the chief minister-designate is known, have sprung up at every street corner and main junction, and the party flag flutters in the gentle summer breeze along all the roads.

The official song of Telangana Jaya Jaya He Telangana will be played out in all the main junctions of the city at the stroke of Sunday midnight All government buildings and historic monuments including the iconic Charminar, Golconda Fort, state assembly and Secretariat have been brightly lit up in various hues for the occasion.

The main celebrations would be on Necklace Road and Tank Bund surrounding the Hussain Sagar Lake which divides the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

Party sources said arrangements had been made to distribute ‘Hyderabadi Biryani,’ the culinary specialty of the capital which has tickled the palates of foodies across the globe, and sweets to the people participating in the celebrations. A major hotel in the city specializing in Hyderabadi biryani has bagged the order and will make special packets for the occasion.

At 6.15am on Monday, E S L Narasimhan, who was the Governor of undivided Andhra Pradesh, will be sworn in as the Governor of Telangana. And at 8.15am, he will administer the oath of office and secrecy to KCR at the Raj Bhavan. The size of the cabinet is likely to be restricted to about a dozen ministers for now, and they will be sworn in by the Governor along with KCR, who may opt for an expansion at a later date, party sources said. KCR’s son K T Rama Rao, nephew T Harish Rao, senior party legislators Eetala Rajender and Pocharam Srinivas Reddy besides Konda Surekha are likely to get prominent cabinet positions, while party MLC Mohd Mahmood Ali is tipped to become the deputy chief minister following KCR’s assurance that a leader from the minority community would get the post.

The TRS supremo will begin his day by paying tributes to Telangana martyrs at Gun Park opposite the State Assembly before the swearing-in ceremony. After the Raj Bhavan function, KCR will proceed to Parade Grounds in Secunderabad where he will unfurl the national flag and deliver his speech as the first chief minister of Telangana. He will then enter the Telangana Secretariat and hold the first cabinet meeting when he will also sign the first file pertaining to the official logo of the new state.

Meanwhile, president’s rule which was imposed on undivided Andhra Pradesh on March 1 following the resignation of N Kiran Kumar Reddy from the chief minister’s post, will be revoked on Monday to facilitate government formation by the TRS. The central rule will, however, continue in the residuary state of Seemandhra since the chief minister-designate of that state N Chandrababu Naidu will be sworn-in only on June 8. A notification revoking president’s rule in Telangana is likely to be issued early Monday morning, sources said. — news@khaleejtimes.com