Andhra Pradesh (1956–2014)

Andhra Pradesh, retrospectively referred to asUnited Andhra Pradesh, andUndivided Andhra Pradesh, was a state inIndiaformed byStates Reorganisation Act, 1956withHyderabadas its capital and was reorganised byAndhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. The state was made up of three distinct cultural regions ofTelangana,Rayalaseema, andCoastal Andhra. Before the 1956 reorganisation, Telangana had been part ofHyderabad State, whereas Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra had been part ofAndhra State, formerly a part ofMadras Presidencyruled byBritish India.
To gain an independent state based on linguistic identity, and to protect the interests of theTelugu peopleofMadras State,Potti Sreeramulufasted to death in 1952. As Madras became a bone of contention, in 1949 a JVP committee report stated: "Andhra Province could be formed provided the Andhras give up their claim on the city of Madras (now Chennai)". After Potti Sreeramulu's death, the Telugu-speaking area ofAndhra Statewas carved out of Madras State on 30 November 1953, withKurnoolas its capital city.On the basis of thegentlemen's agreementof 1 November 1956, theStates Reorganisation ActformedAndhra Pradeshby merging Andhra State with the Telugu-speaking areas of the then-existingHyderabad State.Hyderabadwas made the capital of the new state. TheMarathi-speaking areasof Hyderabad State merged withBombay Statewhich later bifurcated inGujaratandMaharashtraand theKannada-speaking areaswere merged withMysore Statewhich was later renamed asKarnataka.
In February 2014, theAndhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014bill was passed by theParliament of Indiafor the formation of theTelanganastate comprisingten districts.Hyderabadwill remain as a joint capital for not exceeding ten years.The new state of Telangana came into existence on 2 June 2014 after approval from thePresident of India.Number of petitions questioning the validity of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 have long been pending for the verdict since April 2014 before thesupreme courtconstitutional bench.
The Visalandhra, Vishalandhra or Vishala Andhra was a movement in post-independence India for a united state for all Telugu speakers, a Greater Andhra (Telugu: విశాలాంధ్ర Viśālāndhra). This movement was led by the Communist Party of India under the banner of Andhra Mahasabha with a demand to merge all the Telugu-speaking areas into one state.(The Communist Party of India demanded the formation of similar linguistic states across India.) The movement succeeded and a separate state of Andhra Pradesh was formed by merging Telugu-speaking areas of Hyderabad State (Telangana) with Andhra State on 1 November 1956 as part of the States Reorganisation Act. (Andhra State had been previously carved out of Madras State on 1 October 1953.) However, on 2 June 2014, Telangana State separated again from Andhra Pradesh and the Vishalandhra movement came to an end. The residual Andhra Pradesh now has approximately the same borders.
To gain an independent state based on linguistic identity and to protect the interests of the Telugu-speaking people ofMadras State,Potti Sreeramulufasted to death in 1952. As the city of Madras became a bone of contention, in 1949 a committee withJawaharlal Nehru,Vallabhbhai Patel, andPattabhi Sitaramayyawas constituted. The committee recommended that Andhra State could be formed provided the Andhras gave up their claim on the city of Madras (nowChennai). After Potti Sreeramulu's death, the Telugu-speaking area ofAndhra Statewas carved out ofMadras Stateon 1 October 1953, withKurnoolas its capital city.Tanguturi Prakasambecame thefirst chief minister. Based on theGentlemen's Agreement of 1956, theStates Reorganisation Actcreated Andhra Pradesh by merging the neighbouring Telugu-speaking areas of theHyderabad Statewith Hyderabad as the capital on 1 November 1956.
TheIndian National Congress(INC) ruled the state from 1956 to 1982.Neelam Sanjiva Reddybecame the firstchief minister. Among other chief ministers,P. V. Narasimha Raois known for implementing land reforms and land ceiling acts and securing a reservation for lower castes in politics.Nagarjuna Sagar Dam, completed in 1967, andSrisailam Dam, completed in 1981, are some of the irrigation projects that helped increase the production of paddy in the state.
In 1983, theTelugu Desam Party(TDP) won the state elections, andN. T. Rama Raobecame the chief minister of the state for the first time after launching his party just nine months earlier.This broke the long-time single-party monopoly enjoyed by the INC. He transformed the sub-district administration by forming mandals in place of earlier taluks, removing hereditary village heads, and appointing non-hereditary village revenue assistants.The1989 electionsended the rule of Rao, with the INC returning to power withMarri Chenna Reddyat the helm. In1994, Andhra Pradesh gave a mandate to the Telugu Desam Party again, and Rao became the chief minister again.Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Rao's son-in-law, came to power in 1995 with the backing of a majority of theMLAs. The Telugu Desam Party won both theassemblyandLok Sabhaelectionsin 1999 under the leadership of Chandrababu Naidu. Thus, Naidu held the record for the longest-serving chief minister (1995–2004) of the united Andhra Pradesh.He introducede-governanceby launchinge-Sevacentres in 2001 for paperless and speedy delivery of government services. He is credited with transforming Hyderabad into an IT hub by providing incentives for tech companies to set up centres.
In2004, Congress returned to power with a new chief ministerial face,YS Rajashekara Reddy, better known as YSR. The main emphasis during Reddy's tenure was on social welfare schemes such as free electricity for farmers, health insurance, tuition fee reimbursement for the poor, and the national rural employment guarantee scheme. He took over the free emergency ambulance service initiated by a corporation and ran it as a government project. INC won the2009 electionsunder the leadership of YSR in April.He was elected chief minister again but was killed in ahelicopter crashthat occurred in September 2009. He was succeeded by CongressmenKonijeti RosaiahandNallari Kiran Kumar Reddy; the latter resigned over the impending division of the state to formTelangana.
During its 58 years as a unified state, the state weathered separatistmovements from Telangana(1969) andAndhra(1972) successfully.A new party calledTelangana Rashtra Samithi, formed in April 2001 byKalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao(KCR), reignited the Telangana movement. A joint action committee formed with political parties, government employees, and the general public spearheaded the agitation. When KCR's health deteriorated due to his fast-unto-death undertaking, the central government decided to initiate the process of forming an independent Telangana in December 2009. This triggered theSamaikyandhra movementto keep the state united. TheSrikrishna committeewas formed to give recommendations on how to deal with the situation. It gave its report in December 2010.The agitations continued for nearly 5 years, with the Telangana side harping on the marginalisation of food culture, language, and unequal economic development and the Samaikyandhra movement focusing on the shared culture, language, customs, and historical unity of Telugu-speaking regions.TheAndhra Pradesh Reorganisation Actbill was passed by theparliament of Indiafor the formation of the Telangana state, comprisingten districts, despite opposition by the state legislature.The bill included the provision to retainHyderabadas the capital for up to ten years and the provision to ensure access to educational institutions for the same period.The bill received the assent of the president and was published in the gazette on 1 March 2014.The new state of Telangana came into existence on 2 June 2014 after approval from thepresident of India, with the residual state continuing as Andhra Pradesh.The present form of Andhra Pradesh is the same as that ofAndhra State, except forBhadrachalamtown, which continues in Telangana.A number of petitions questioning the validity of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act have been pending before theSupreme Courtconstitutional bench since April 2014.
In the final elections held in the unified state in2014, the TDP got a mandate in its favour, defeating its nearest rival, theYSR Congress Party, a breakaway faction of the Congress founded byY. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, son of former Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy.N. Chandrababu Naidu, the chief of the TDP, became the chief minister on 8 June 2014.In 2017,the government of Andhra Pradeshbegan operating from its new greenfield capital,Amaravati, for which 33,000 acres were acquired from farmers through an innovative land pooling scheme.Interstate issues with Telangana relating to the division of assets of public sector institutions and organisations of the united state and the division of river waters are not yet resolved.
Data from Andhra Pradesh State Portal.
On 1 November 1956,Hyderabad Stateceased to exist; itsGulbargaandAurangabad divisionswere merged intoMysore StateandBombay Staterespectively. Its remainingTelugu-speaking portion,Telangana, was merged withAndhra Stateto form the new state ofUnited Andhra Pradesh.
N. Chandrababu NaiduofTelugu Desam Partywas the longest served chief minister of United Andhra Pradesh.Kiran Kumar Reddyof theIndian National Congresswas the last chief minister of United Andhra Pradesh.
The list of deputychief ministersin theIndianformer state ofUnited Andhra Pradeshinclude:
Keys:INC
In factN. Chandrababu Naiduis the longest-serving leader of the opposition. He served as leader of opposition inUnitedAndhra Pradesh Legislative Assemblyfor a period of 2004 – 2014 in Andhra which includes current dayAndhra PradeshandTelanganastatesN. Chandrababu Naiduis the last leader of opposition ofUnited Andhra Pradeshbefore its bifurcation.
After decades of protests and agitations, the central government, under theUnited 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. Lasting for almost 5 decades, it was one of the longest lasting movements for statehood in South India.On 18 February 2014, theLok Sabhapassed the bill with avoice vote. Subsequently, the bill was passed by theRajya Sabhatwo days later, on 20 February.As per the bill, Hyderabad would be the capital of Telangana, while the city would also remain the capital of the residual state of Andhra Pradesh for no more than ten years. Hyderabad was the de jure joint capital. On 2 June 2014,Telanganawas created with Hyderabad as its capital
TheTelangana movementrefers to a movement for the creation of a state, Telangana, from the pre-existing state of Andhra Pradesh in India. The new state corresponds to the Telugu-speaking portions of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad.