Questioning Linguistic States

The United Progressive Alliance government’s in-principle nod on 9 December for the formation of the new state of Telangana which will be carved out of Andhra Pradesh was not unexpected even if the timing caught political players off guard. At the time of writing though the centre has been compelled to put the issue once more on the back-burner.

The States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) of 1955 had misgivings about the integration of Telangana into “Vishalandhra” on grounds that for subsequent decades continued to agitate the residents of the Telangana region and fuelled demands for a separate state. Grievances have persisted over lopsided development in Andhra Pradesh where the Telangana region suffers from higher rates of poverty and unemployment, insufficient health facilities, inadequate irrigation and a perceived expression of cultural superiority on the part of the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of the state. Most of the political parties in the state barring the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had at some point of time agreed to or demanded the creation of a separate state, arguing that this was the only recourse left to address the grievances of the people of Telangana.