A new dawn: The political and emotional journey to Telangana

After the long-cherished dream of a separate Telangana state was realised, some now tend to view it as a routine development. A few may even dismiss it casually.

But twenty-five years ago, it was nothing short of a monumental, historic, and a seemingly impossible achievement.

This is the story behind the thoughts, deliberations and resolve of K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), the visionary, who led the Telangana movement and laid the foundation for Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

To understand the roots of this journey, we must revisit the 1969 Telangana agitation. In the 1971 parliamentary elections held soon after, a nationwide wave favoured Indira Gandhi. Yet, under the leadership of M. Chenna Reddy, the Telangana Praja Samithi (TPS) captured the public imagination and won 10 out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats from Telangana. It was an extraordinary feat.

During that first phase of the movement, 365 students sacrificed their lives for the cause. The agitation saw intense protests, police crackdowns, and widespread curfews. But even after such sacrifices and a powerful electoral mandate, Telangana was denied a separate recognition. The dream was crushed when the then prime minister Indira Gandhi merged the TPS MPs into the Congress party — effectively stalling the statehood movement.

Reflecting deeply on these developments and countless other concerns, KCR embarked on a year-long journey of introspection and deliberation before launching the TRS. He examined every possibility, every challenge surrounding the formation of Telangana.

Professor Jayashankar, Telangana’s ideological beacon, aptly observed that KCR's view was that “If a new party is to be launched, it must succeed in achieving Telangana. Otherwise, we must not mislead the people by vainly invoking the Telangana name. Telangana must never again be mortgaged to the Congress, nor should its spirit be crushed under any political compromise. We cannot afford another phase of bloodshed or brutality.”

KCR’s pursuit was not impulsive; it was meticulously studied. Over the course of a year, he engaged in extensive, daily discussions with intellectuals, constitutional experts, veteran activists of the 1969 movement, legal scholars, poets, writers, artists, and ordinary citizens. He listened to voices from every walk of life — from party colleagues to Dalit settlements, from tribal hamlets to university campuses.

When new states like Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh were created in 2000, KCR rigorously studied the constitutional mechanisms behind state formation. He consulted legal experts and closely examined Article 3 of the Indian Constitution — the provision enabling formation of new states. He even delved into Constituent Assembly debates and was particularly inspired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s insight.

Many Constituent Assembly members had argued that new states should only be formed with the parent state legislature’s consent. Ambedkar strongly opposed this, warning that such a clause would permanently block the formation of new states, as the regions seeking separation would always be in minority. Instead, Ambedkar emphasised that only the parent legislature’s opinion was necessary — not its approval. KCR absorbed this critical constitutional understanding, which would later serve as a strategic foundation.

Considering the socio-economic injustices and regional imbalances faced by Telangana, KCR formally founded the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on April 27, 2001.

Until the 2004 general elections, he crisscrossed the ten Telangana districts, awakening public consciousness about the discrimination in water sharing, budget allocations, and employment. His outreach went beyond rallies — he undertook village stays, walked through urban neighbourhoods, visited Dalit bastis, and directly interacted with the people.

During one such visit to a tribal hamlet in Warangal, he came across a Lambada family devastated by a house fire, unable to afford their daughter’s wedding. Deeply moved, KCR personally organised the marriage. That emotional moment later inspired the Kalyana Lakshmi welfare scheme — which serves as a lifeline for thousands of families today.

Similarly, standing in the arid fields of Nalgonda, KCR was appalled to see the suffering of farmers despite the Nagarjuna Sagar dam being in Telangana. The plight of farmers like Borela Ramreddy, who dug hundreds of borewells to save his crop, and the mass migration from Palamuru, stirred him to act.

He transformed these stories into a powerful narrative — why Telangana deserved justice.

In the 2004 general elections, the TRS sent five MPs to the Parliament — amplifying Telangana’s voice at the national level. I was privileged to be one among them, along with KCR, Ale Narendra, Madhusudhan Reddy, and Ravinder Nayak.

When KCR and Narendra joined the UPA government at the Centre, critics alleged that Telangana had been mortgaged to Congress. But KCR remained undeterred. He ensured that Telangana featured in the President’s address, was included in the UPA’s Common Minimum Programme, and that a dedicated committee under Pranab Mukherjee was formed to examine the demand for statehood.

When the Pranab Committee sought inputs, KCR went from one national party to another, presenting Telangana’s case, collecting letters of support, and building a nationwide consensus. These efforts — though invisible to many — laid the bedrock for Telangana’s future.

From 2004 to 2006, KCR served as a Union Minister. When it became clear that the Congress was dragging its feet, he resigned from both the Cabinet and Parliament, only to win a re-election from Karimnagar. In 2008, as the Congress continued its delay, KCR and our team resigned again from Parliament, reaffirming our commitment to Telangana.

Between 2004 and 2009, KCR built crucial momentum — preparing the ground, creating national awareness, and strengthening Telangana’s political muscle. This phase was the silent revolution that preceded the storm.

After the 2009 elections, KCR’s hunger strike and the slogan “Telangana will come, or KCR will die” shook the nation. Government employees, private workers, students, intellectuals — everyone joined the struggle.

The movement reached a crescendo from 2009 to 2014. But the foundations were laid in the tireless groundwork of 2004–2009, when KCR secured national backing and turned Telangana into a formidable demand.

When the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill was finally passed in 2014, it was KCR’s relentless lobbying in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha that proved decisive.

Indeed, many chapters and countless milestones mark the journey of Telangana. And this particular chapter — one of study, strategy, sacrifice, and strength — remains pivotal in our history.

(The author is a former Member of Parliament and BRS Party leader)