Hyderabad: Monday sees the end of six decades of struggle for self-rule and the birth of Telangana, the 29th state of the country.
“We achieved Telangana. The long cherished dream of the people, and mine too, has come true. It’s now a new beginning. Like the Telangana movement, there is a need for another movement for reconstruction and development of Telangana state,” said TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who will take oath as the first Chief Minister of Telangana on Monday, June 2, the Appointed Date for the formation of Telangana.
(Read: Welfare to be K Chandrasekhar Rao’s priority)
Telangana, which comprises 10 districts — Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Adilabad, Warangal, Khammam and Nalgonda — will soon have 24 districts if Mr Rao has his way.
By Sunday, Hyderabad had turned into a “Pink City” with TRS flags everywhere. The celebrations, which started from morning, reached a feverish pitch by evening as the darkening sky was lit by dazzling displays of fireworks, and the city was ablaze with lights. TRS, Congress and other political parties as well as pro-Telangana groups lined up a series of programmes to celebrate the formation of the new state.
The streets were full of dancing youth. Prominent landmarks like the Secretariat, Assembly, Charminar, Secunderabad Railway Station, Kacheguda Railway Station, Tank Bund, and People’s Plaza, besides other parts of the state, were lit up.
Telangana supporters also took out victory rallies and distributed sweets to celebrate the occasion.
Congress leaders took out a rally on Sunday night, hailing their party president Sonia Gandhi for making separate statehood for Telangana a reality.
Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan was sworn in as the Governor of Telangana, the country's 29th state, on Monday.
Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta administered the oath to Narasimhan, who will be the common Governor to Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh.
Hyderabad will be the joint capital of Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh.
Mr Rao will be sworn in by Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan on Monday at 8.15 am. Before taking oath, he will offer floral tributes at the Martyrs Memorial at Gun Park in front of the state Assembly at 7.30 am and later take salute at the ceremonial parade organised by the police at Secunderabad Parade Grounds at 10.40 am.
(Read: K Chandrasekhar Rao has glittering invitee list for swearing in ceremony)
He will assume office as chief minister at the Secretariat at 12.57 pm and hold an informal Cabinet meeting and sign the first file pertaining to the logo of the new Telangana state.
The national flag would be unfurled and celebrations would be organised at the offices of Congress, TDP, BJP and YSR Congress on Monday morning, sources said.
