Last AP Formation Day today?

Kiran may be last CM of united Andhra to take salute.

With the Centre poised to complete the process of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and create Telangana region as a separate state, the 57th AP Formation Day celebrations to be held on Friday may go into history as the last one. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy may become the last Chief Minister of a united AP to take the salute at the ceremonial parade on the occasion. The function will take place at NTR Stadium at 9 am.

Going by the reports, the Centre is likely to introduce the Telangana Bill in Parliament in the Winter Session in the second week of December. Once the Bill is passed and the President gives his assent to it, the Telangana State will be a reality and Andhra Pradesh in its present form will cease to exist. The Andhra Pradesh State was formed on November 1, 1956, by merging the Andhra State with the Telugu-speaking areas of already existing Hyderabad State.

The Marathi speaking areas of the erstwhile Hyderabad State were merged with the Bombay State, and Kannada speaking areas were merged with the Mysore State. Incidentally, Andhra Pradesh is the first linguistic State to be formed in the country.

The first celebration of the Andhra Pradesh Formation day was held at Raj Bhavan on November 1, 1956, where the Nizam Raj Pramukh used to stay. The ceremonial salute was taken by the then Chief Minister, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy. The emphasis of the speech then was on the historic need of formation of Andhra Pradesh. Sanjeeva Reddy in his address highlighted the greatness of United Andhra Pradesh. He said the merger of Andhra and Telangana States was a historic event. It was a merger of “two great cultures.”

“It is like Sangamam of Godavari and Manjeera. Telangana region is known for its traditions and culture. It had witnessed development and I strongly believe that the merger of Andhra and Telangana regions will lead to greater development of the State,” he said. According to a former Chief Minister K Rosaiah, who is the Governor of Tamil Nadu at present, “It has been a tradition to celebrate the formation of the State since 1956.” He recalled that the budget of Andhra Pradesh in 1957-58, a year after its formation, was only Rs 58 crore which increased by over 180 per cent now.

He further said that the first industrial estate in the state was established at Sanathnagar in Hyderabad while such estate and SEZs could be seen everywhere now. Though this could be the last AP Formation Day celebration, the Telangana Ministers, who have been keeping themselves away for the last four years, are not likely to participate in it this time either. In fact, the Government has already issued instructions to District Collectors of Telangana to hoist the tri -colour themselves. On the other hand, Seemandhra Ministers might use the occasion to reiterate their demand to keep the State united. The YSRCP has already demanded that the occasion be observed as Integration Day, the Telugu Desam Party leaders are divided on the issue.