Statements Made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Parliament Regarding Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Bifurcation

Telangana is the 12th most populated state and 29th state of the country. However, Telangana got bifurcated on 2nd June 2014, its capital being Hyderabad. It got bifurcated from Andhra Pradesh. Earlier, Telangana constituted the northern part of Andhra Pradesh. Andhra is now a state with 13 districts and Amravati being the administrative capital. The bifurcation movement for Telangana had a history of 53 years. After several years of protests and riots, on 1st March 2014, the bill of Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act 2014, popularly known as Telangana Act, was attested by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. On 2nd March 2014, he published an official gazette. Before this, the bill was first passed in Lok Sabha on 18th February 2014 and then passed in Rajya Sabha on 20th February 2014. The bill specified that Hyderabad would be a combined capital to both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for 10 years. But, at present, Amaravati is the new capital city of Andhra Pradesh. ‘Bifurcation of both states is a political game’, it being the most debated topic since 2014 in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Bifurcation was made during the rule of the Congress government in the country, while Sonia Gandhi was the party president. Then, in 2014, Bharathiya Janata Party became an opposition party. 

Now, after 8 years of separation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a few statements in Parliament about the bifurcation of both states, which now became a controversy. Political leaders of Telangana, like chief minister KCR, Minister KTR, and Minister Harish Rao, strongly condemned the statements. Prime Minister Narendra Modi questioned how the bill was passed in Rajya Sabha on 20th February 2022. He blamed Congress for not following the procedural norms. He stated that Telangana was created with the doors of the Parliament shut. He also kept forth that the bill was passed without discussion and debate about the bill. The merits and demerits, pros and cons, and the reason for introducing the bill were properly neither debated nor discussed. The Prime Minister also reminded the House about the use of pepper spray by Lagadapati Rajagopal when the bill was passed. The Prime Minister blamed the congress government for failing to pass the Telangana and Andhra bifurcation bill appropriately and had compared to same with the formation of three new states by the NDA government, which Atal Behari Vajpayee headed. Narendra Modi made it clear that BJP was not against the formation of Telangana but the way the bill was passed in Rajya Sabha for the formation of the state. He also questioned the political intentions of the UPA government to haunt Andhra and Telangana through bifurcation. Modi made a mockery that the Congress government gained nothing even though it separated both states to gain its vote bank in Telangana. Modi also alleged that the Congress government had replaced Andhra Pradesh’s then Chief Minister T. Anjaiah for not receiving ‘then’ Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s son Rajiv Gandhi at the Airport. “Andhra Pradesh played a major role in the Congress government. And what did they do to them…to that Andhra Pradesh which allowed them to be in power…they shamefully divided Andhra Pradesh. The microphones were switched off…pepper spray was used….there was no discussion. Was this method right? Was it democracy?”, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8th February 2022. He further added, “The bifurcation Bill was passed without any debate and there was no consultation with the stakeholders over the bifurcation process, because of which there is continuing bitterness on both sides,” His statements blew fire in the state of Telangana, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hurt the sentiments of Telangana people. Minister of IT, Industries, Municipal administration, and Urban Development KTR expressed his dissatisfaction with the statements of Modi.

KTR made a tweet stating, “Utterly disgraceful of you, Mr. Prime Minister, repeatedly insulting the decades of spirited struggle & sacrifices of the people of #Telangana. I strongly condemn the absurd comments of PM & demand that he apologize to the people of Telangana,” He called for state-wide protests and had demanded Modi to apologize for his disgraceful and bizarre statements in Parliament of India. Reacting to the statements of Modi, Former Minister of Telangana, Shabbar Ali, said, “Telangana Bill was passed by the Congress-led UPA Government which believes in a true democracy. Unlike BJP Government, the Congress Government never introduced a law or implemented any major decision without debating them in the Parliament. Before targeting the Congress, Modi should explain why the BJP Government used the Parliament as a Bill-passing factory. Several laws, including amendments to the Land Acquisition Act, Triple Talaq Bill, and the Citizenship Amendment Act, were passed without debate. Many decisions like demonetization, abrogation of Article 370 and three controversial Farm Laws were passed without debate and without consulting anyone by the Modi Government”. 

On 10th February 2022, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) MP’s gave a notice in Rajya Sabha for moving a privilege motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his statements made in Parliament on 8th February 2022 regarding the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in 2014. “The statement attempts to show the Parliament Houses in the worst and contemptuous manner, denigrating and demeaning the procedures and proceedings of the House and its functioning. It is equivalent in finding fault with the Members of Parliament and the Presiding Officers for their conduct in the House. Even the decision of the Presiding Officer to close the doors of the House to prevent the spread of disorder or mischief of a handful few Members is brought under question. The Prime Minister openly questioned the procedures adopted by the presiding officers and management of the House during the passage of the said Bill in February 2014. The August Houses run under the control and guidance of the Presiding Officer according to the Book and whose word is always final. Finding fault on either count is a contempt of the House, raising the issue of its privilege. In the instant case, the Prime Minister tried to find fault with such conduct of the Presiding Officer and damned them as unruly”, the notice said. 

However, political leaders of Telangana highlighted that this is not the first time where Narendra Modi showed his hatred towards the Telangana state. Chief Minister K. Chandra Shekhar Rao strongly objected to the conduct of Narendra Modi in a matter of Telangana. If required, KCR said he is ready to play a role in national politics to break the wall of Delhi Fort and put down the government of BJP. “You don’t give us the national project. You don’t give us medical college. If you don’t support us, no problem. We will chase you away from power and bring in a government that will help us,” he said. He categorically stated that the state government would not implement the Electricity Reforms proposed by the NDA government in Telangana[1]. “If required, if there is a necessity to play an influential role in national politics, certainly we should fight for our nation…If you (people) bless me, I will break the Delhi Fort. Be careful, Narendra Modi. Nobody is scared of your threats,” KCR added. 

The political leader of the Congress Party, Revanth, accused Prime Minister of insulting the people of Telangana for making baseless and irrelevant statements about the bifurcation of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. “Has Modi opposed the formation of Telangana and stalled the bifurcation bill? He only referred to the manner in which the bifurcation was done while explaining how the people of the country, right from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, had suffered problems during the decades of misrule of the Congress. BJP MP Sushma Swaraj had brought pressure on the then UPA government to get the Telangana bill passed. She even said if the UPA failed to introduce the bill, the BJP would get the Telangana bill passed after it formed the government,” he said. TRS leaders, along with MLAs and MLCs, held rallies in their respective constituencies in Telangana. Few TRS MPs held a protest near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the premises of Parliament against BJP. Minister Harish Rao, who took part in the protest, demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologize for his statements. It ended up being a fight between BJP and TRS’s political leaders.