Telangana all set to take birth as 29th state

Hyderabad: Telangana is all set to be born as the 29th state of India at the stroke of Sunday midnight. Telangana supporters have planned gala celebrations.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which spearheaded the movement for separate state and will form the first government in Telangana Monday, has painted Hyderabad pink - the colour of its flag.

The Telangana party will kick off as the clock strikes 12. The special firecrackers ordered from Mumbai will go off at 120 main junctions and roads across Hyderabad, TRS leaders said.

The official song of Telangana state will be played at several places, mainly at Tank Bund and Necklace Road along the Hussain Sagar lake, which divides the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), which has re-laid roads and beautified some key areas, will illuminate historic monuments like Charminar, Golconda Fort, the state assembly and Jubliee Hall.

With this, Andhra Pradesh will be formally split into two.

Telangana will comprise 10 districts including Hyderabad while the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh will have 13 districts of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.

Hyderabad will serve as the common capital of the two states for 10 years.

This will bring curtains on undivided Andhra Pradesh formed on Nov 1, 1956 with the merger of Telangana with the then Andhra State.

Monday will begin on a historic note with E.S.L. Narasimhan taking oath as the governor of Telangana. He will administer oath of office and secrecy to K. Chandrasekhara Rao as the first chief minister.

Rao, whose TRS won a majority in the 119-member assembly, will be sworn in at a simple ceremony at Raj Bhavan at 8.30 a.m. About 10 cabinet ministers will also take oath with KCR, as the TRS chief is known.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, who is set to take over as the chief minister of residuary state of Andhra Pradesh on June 8, has also been invited to the event.

Before taking oath, the TRS chief will pay tributes to the martyrs of Telangana at Gun Park near the legislative assembly.

Official celebrations to mark the formation of Telangana will begin Monday morning.

After the swearing-in, KCR will unfurl the national flag at the main official function at Parade Grounds. He will deliver his message on this occasion.

KCR will chair the first cabinet meeting where he is expected to sign the first file relating to the logo of the Telangana state.

TRS has decked up all major traffic junctions in the city with the party flags, KCR cut-outs and festoons.

The bifurcation is a follow up of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill passed in parliament in February this year.

As Hyderabad has been declared the common capital, the infrastructure and employees at the secretariat of the undivided state has been bifurcated.

The process had its own share of acrimony, with the TRS taking strong exception to the allotment of Andhra employees to the Telangana secretariat.

The TRS had accused Seemandhra employees of illegally taking away jobs meant for locals.

The ordinance issued by the central government for the merger of over 200 villages of Telangana into Andhra Pradesh also kicked up a row.

Telangana Thursday observed a shutdown on a call given by KCR to denounce the ordinance, which transfered 205 villages of Khammam district to Andhra Pradesh.

KCR has called the move "unconstitutional" and threatened to challenge it in the Supreme Court.

Chandrababu Naidu has accused KCR of whipping up regional feelings by making provocative statements on the issues of employees and transfer of villages.