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Telangana gears up for its formation

Telangana will be born as the 29th state of the Indian Republic on June 2, and its birth will be a historic event with mega celebrations set to begin the previous night and continue throughout the ‘Formation Day.’

The new state’s chief minister-designate K Chandrasekhar Rao, considered as the architect of the separate statehood movement in the decisive stage of the decades old struggle, will be sworn in by Governor E S L Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan at 8.15am.

The first chief minister of Telangana will then be given a ceremonial reception including a ceremonial march-past at the Parade Grounds in Secunderabad at 10.45am, Director General of Police B Prasad Rao said, giving details of the arrangements. What will follow in the venue will be the celebrations befitting the occasion of Telangana Formation Day.

KCR, as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) founder-president is known, will have a busy schedule on the day since he will also be occupying his chambers in the Telangana Secretariat at an appointed auspicious time in the afternoon.

Though TRS cadres and the people of Telangana, elated by the passage of the Telangana bill in parliament, had celebrated the imminent birth of Telangana then, it was still muted considering the several challenges ahead including the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assembly. But with the TRS recording a thumping victory in the elections, the celebrations on June 2 would be on a grand scale covering the entire state.

Enthusiastic party leaders and workers, sources said, had placed orders for huge quantities of fire-crackers and sweets, two essential ingredients for celebrations. “It will be a day to remember. We will celebrate the occasion with the grandeur it deserves but we will also remember the sacrifices made by hundreds of people, particularly youth and students, who laid down their lives for the cause,” senior party leader T Harish Rao, who is expected to be given a key position in the KCR cabinet, said. The Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) chairman Prof. Kodandaram, who also played a key role in the separate statehood movement, has asked all TJAC leaders and members to join the celebrations at the Martyrs Memorial at Gun Park opposite the state assembly from 8pm on June 1 till midnight and the entire day on June 2.

Several students’ organisations have also planned celebrations in the various universities of the new state, but the focus of students’ celebrations would be on Arts College in Osmania University, often referred to as the epicentre of the separate statehood movement. Local media reports also indicated that hotels, resorts and function halls in and around the city are heavily booked for the day by various groups and individuals to celebrate the birth of the new state.

Interestingly, TRS sources have indicated that KCR is unlikely to invite his counter-part in Seemandhra and TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu for the swearing-in ceremony. Though it is common practice for chief ministers of neighboring states to be invited for such occasions, the TRS chief, who quit the TDP in 2001 to launch the TRS, has decided to ignore his bête-noire since the two have been bitter political adversaries for some time now.

— news@khaleejtimes.com