As Hyderabad moves closer to not being a joint capital, fresh row erupts on status
People throng the market area at Char Minar in Hyderabad.
A fresh controversy has surfaced in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana over apprehension around the status of Hyderabad after June 2, when the city will cease to continue as the common capital of the two Telugu states following the completion of 10 years of the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
As per Section 5 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Hyderabad shall be the common capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for a period not exceeding 10 years with effect from June 2, 2014 — the official date for the bifurcation of the combined state. It further states that after the completion of the 10-year period, Hyderabad shall be the capital of Telangana only. On October 22, 2015, Amaravati was declared as the capital of Andhra Pradesh.
However, with little over three weeks to the completion of 10-year period, Telangana’s opposition party, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), has raked up a controversy over the future status of Hyderabad and made it a poll issue in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
BRS working president and former Telangana minister KT Rama Rao has claimed that he had specific information that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was planning to amend the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 to turn Hyderabad into a Union Territory if it was voted to power at the Centre for a third successive term, a claim rejected by the BJP.
“The BJP is conspiring to make Hyderabad a Union Territory to gain control over Telangana. The Congress has no courage to stop it. If the BRS gets at least a dozen MP seats in Telangana, it can counter the moves of the BJP and protect the interests of Hyderabad,” KTR, as he is popularly known as, claimed at a party meeting in Karimnagar on April 29.
On May 4, another senior BRS legislator and former state minister T Harish Rao came up with another apprehension. “There is a conspiracy by some parties to continue Hyderabad as the common capital for 10 more years, beyond June 2,” he claimed.
Rao suspected that Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu, an ally of the BJP in Andhra Pradesh, is pushing for continuing Hyderabad as the common capital. “Since Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy was once a protégé of Naidu, he might clandestinely support the common capital idea,” Harish Rao alleged, while adding his party would stall any such move if it got good number of seats in the ongoing polls.
Both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will go to Lok Sabha polls in a single phase on May 13. Andhra Pradesh will also vote to elect its legislative assembly simultaneously.
Though the Congress did not react to the BRS leaders’ apprehensions, Telangana BJP chief and Union minister for tourism G Kishan Reddy rubbished the claim that his party was intending to make Hyderabad a UT.
“It is nothing but an idiotic talk. There is absolutely no such proposal before the Centre. The BRS leaders are raising the issue only with a fear of losing the Lok Sabha elections,” Reddy said.
Political observers described BRS leaders’ claims as politically motivated rhetoric, with an eye on the ongoing general elections.
“By raising unnecessary apprehensions over the status of Hyderabad, the BRS is trying to attract voters in the elections, as Telangana is sentimentally attached to Hyderabad,” political analyst and former Osmania University professor K Nageshwar said.
The BRS, which was in power in Telangana for two straight terms, lost the November 2023 state polls to the Congress, bagging only 39 of the 119 seats.
Senior academician and former chairman of Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) Ghanta Chakrapani, who played a key role in the separate Telangana movement, however, maintained that though the BRS leaders have kicked up a controversy for political gains, the apprehensions had a background.
He pointed at YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader YV Subba Reddy’s remarks in February that Hyderabad should continue as common capital for a few more years, as “there is no proper capital city for Andhra Pradesh till now”.
“The YSRCP leader clearly said Hyderabad should be continued as the common capital, till the Supreme Court settles the issue of Andhra Pradesh having three capitals – at Visakhapatnam, Amaravati and Kurnool, or a single capital at Amaravati. So, there is no surprise if the Andhra Pradesh government pushes for extension of Hyderabad as common capital for some more years,” the Chakrapani said.
He also said there were several contentious issues between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh that remain to be resolved, especially with regard to relocation of employees in some departments, sharing of common assets etc, even after 10 years of bifurcation.
“Against this backdrop, the new ruling party in Andhra Pradesh after the May 13 elections might ask for extension of Hyderabad as common capital,” he said.
A special leave petition by the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh government seeking to create three capital cities for the state is pending before the Supreme Court.
Chakrapani, however, ruled out the possibility of Hyderabad being made a Union Territory. “I don’t think the BJP would gain anything politically by such a move now. There was such an attempt before the bifurcation and representations were made to Justice Srikrishna Committee, which studied the demand for separate Telangana. But there was no consensus on the same. If the BJP rakes up the issue again, it will have to face a stiff resistance from the people of Telangana,” he said.
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