But the prospect of a separate Telangana has renewed decades-old demands from the states’ other regions. Historically, AP consists of three very distinct regions — coastal Andhra, Telangana and Rayalaseema. Integrating them into a single state in 1956 was based on several compromises and agreements. Unresolved issues sparked off two violent movements — the Telangana agitation in 1969 and Jai Andhra Movement in 1972. Rayalaseema, Hyderabad and north Andhra, have their own separate ideas, and creating a separate Telangana state would open a can of worms in the rest of the state.

Interestingly, though Telangana has become such an important issue ahead of state elections, “pure Telangana” parties hardly have any political base. The TRS was routed in its Telangana bastion in by-elections in July 2008 — winning only 7 of 16 Assembly seats and two of four Lok Sabha seats.

Parallel to the Telangana demand, leaders in Rayalaseema have also been demanding a separate state or at least special rights and concessions which include special drinking water and irrigation projects.

Congress MP from Kurnool, K. Suryaprakash, who supports the Rayalseema Hakkula Ikya Vedika (RHIV), which the demand for separate Rayalseema, says Nellore and Prakasam districts should be merged into Rayalaseema to form a separate state. Not only that, they want Bellary in neighbouring Karnataka as well. “Before any decision is taken on Telangana we want Rayalaseema to be declared a separate state or we will launch an agitation. For more than 50 years we have sacrificed for the benefit of Telangana and Andhra—90 per cent of the region is still rain-fed and crops fail every other year” according to the fiery MP. He claims that there is a groundswell of support for a separate Rayalaseema ever since the Telangana issue loomed large.

T. G. Venkatesh, president of RHIV, says that in case Telangana becomes a state, Rayalseema should at least be given the option of joining either Telangana or Andhra Pradesh. On August 28, the Vedika released a charter of 28 demands including a separate state. Rayalseema is home to almost all major political leaders of Andhra Pradesh including the present CM, Y. S. R. Reddy, who hails from Kadapa district and N. Chandrababu Naidu, who is from Chitoor.

Adding fuel to the fire is K Chandrasekhar Rao, president of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS). He says “Telangana state should be created based on the boundaries of the erstwhile Nizam state in Telugu-speaking areas,” something sure to raise the hackles in Telugu-speaking regions. “We want Telangana as it was before November 1, 1956. Which means all the regions under the former Hyderabad state,” says TRS ideologue K Jayashankar. Telengana currently consists of nine districts and Hyderabad.

The knives are already out. For instance, the CM is of the opinion that Bhadrachalam, a very famous and historic temple town and a tourist spot in Khammam district in Telangana, should be merged with East Godavari district (Andhra), as it was pre-1956.

The issue of which city would be made the capital of Andhra in Telangana separates is also vexing. Real estate prices have hit the roof in Vijayawada and Vizag. Vizag is one of the fastest growing cities in Asia and very cosmopolitan with a naval base, steel plant and a booming BPO sector. Real estate prices in Vizag have moved in proportion according to the strength of the T sentiment. But Vizag would be unacceptable to those such as T G Venkatesh of the RHIV — it’s “almost at the other end of the state.”

But the most contentious issue is Hyderabad. Some think Hyderabadis would like it left alone as a centrally-administered Union Territory. “The reason is, a majority of the families have settled in Hyderabad when it was made the state capital, migrating from their native villages and towns either in Telangana or Andhra. The third generation has no roots in their former home towns and villages anymore. For them Hyderabad is what Telangana or Andhra is for you or me,” according to political analyst Venkat Rao. Those such as Jayashankar, view it differently: “Hyderabad has been capital of Telangana region since four and half centuries and it was developed by Telangana people at the expense of other districts...Their sweat and blood is in this city.” For them, any discussion on a separate Hyderabad can only be hypothetical.

janyala.srinivas@expressindia.com