Wishes pour in for India’s 29th state, Telangana and CM K Chandrasekhar Rao

New Delhi/Hyderabad/Srinagar/Chennai: Telangana came into existence as India's 29th state on Monday, putting an end to the decades-old struggle in the region for carving out a separate state from Andhra Pradesh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated first Telangana chief minister, K. Chandrasekhar Rao and assured him of full help in taking the newly created state forward.

“Congrats to K Chandrasekhar Rao Garu on taking oath as Telangana's 1st CM. My best wishes to people for the state's development journey. Centre assures complete support to the people & Government of Telangana in taking the state to newer heights of progress,” the PM tweeted.

“India gets a new state! We welcome Telangana as our 29th state. Telangana will add strength to our development journey in the coming years. Telangana's birth comes after years of struggle and sacrifices by several people. We pay our respects to them today,” he further tweeted.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh also tweeted, “Congratulations to Shri K. Chandrashekhar Rao on taking oath as the first Chief Minister of the new Telangana state. My good wishes to him.”

Union Ministers M Venkaiah Naidu and Prakash Javadekar have congratulated the people of Telangana and offered them full support of the Central Government.

"On behalf of the BJP and the Central Government, I would like to congratulate the people of Telangana. For years, people had been demanding for a separate state of Telangana for growth and prosperity," the Urban Development Minister said.

He said that if the state government and people work hard, Telangana will prosper.

"The Central Government too will offer full support," Naidu said.

Congratulating the people of Telangana, Environment Minister Javadekar called for peaceful coexistence of both Telangana and Seemandhra.

"We will go ahead with development plank and we firmly believe that both the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will coexist peacefully and progress rapidly," said Javadekar, who is also the Information and Broadcasting Minster.

Chandrababu Naidu, who will be sworn-in as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on June 8, said, "Congratulations to the people of Telangana, KCR and his colleagues. Wishing them success and we will partner with them in development."

Addressing party rank and file at TDP headquarters NTR Bhavan while celebrating Telangana formation day, Chandrababu hoped the new state would progress under KCR's leadership.

"There are many problems in Telangana. Development suffered under the Congress rule in the last ten years. The new state will face problem of electricity, water for irrigation and drinking. I hope the new government will tackle these problems," he said.

"We may have separated into two states but as Telugus we always should remain one. There is no place for any differences or ill-will among Telugus," the TDP chief said.

He recalled that the TDP supported the cause of Telangana in deference to people's wishes and never went back on it.

"We are the only party that remained with the people whether in power or in opposition," he said.

President of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, Asaduddin Owaisi said there are great hopes and aspirations in Telangana.

Owaisi, however, said his party would never be part of any government in the state.

"We are stragglers, we are fighters. We want development in Telangana. We want power and water issues to be solved. That is our main concern and we hope that this will be a state, which will have great human development indicators and it will be a state where secularism will prosper a lot," the Hyderabad MP said.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was also in the list to congratulate the people of Telangana on achieving statehood.

"Congratulations to the people of Telangana. Welcome to the Club #29," Omar said on Twitter.

DMK president M Karunanidhi greeted KCR.

"I, very heartily, congratulate you on your winning majority in the Telangana Assembly elections and assuming office as the Chief Minister. Your wise moves and hard and sincere work have always kept you very near to the hearts of the people," Karunanidhi tweeted.

The DMK chief also recalled Rao's visits to Chennai and the discussions they had over the formation of Telangana.

"Under your able leadership, I am quite confident, the new Telangana state will enjoy a very peaceful and useful governance. I, once again, convey my good wishes to you and your party on behalf of the DMK," he said.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Digvijay Singh said that it should not be forgotten that without the help of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the formation of Telangana would not have been possible.

"Let us also not forget that without Sonia ji and Dr MM Singh this wouldn't have been possible. They fulfilled the commitment made," tweeted Digvijay Singh.

"I am sure through a healthy competitive spirit and mutual cooperation both States would grow. Best wishes to KCR and Chandra Babu Naidu. New states of Telengana and Andhra Pradesh come into existence. My best wishes to people of both States," he added.

Capping the decades-old struggle in the region for carving out a separate state from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana came into existence as the 29th state of India this morning.