Chandrashekar Rao sworn in as chief minister of Telangana

FE Team | Published: June 03, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

HYDERABAD, June 2 (agencies): Celebrations erupted in southern India to mark Monday's creation of the new state of Telangana, the culmination of a campaign stretching back nearly six decades.
Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao, who at one stage went on hunger strike as part of the push to create India's 29th state, was sworn in as chief minister during a morning ceremony in Hyderabad.
Rao raised the Indian flag, waved to crowds from an open-top jeep and inspected troops during a ceremony at a parade ground.
"People of Telangana are looking forward to a progressive and development-oriented state. We will work in that direction and ensure a transparent administration," Rao said, addressing the ceremonial parade.
He also vowed to root out corruption and work for the disadvantaged sections of the society.
Residents began celebrating on the stroke of midnight when the state came into being, with a fireworks display lighting up the skies over the city. Crowds took to the streets, waving flags and cheering.
Families also gathered near the historic Charminar monument and cut a giant cake to mark the "birthday" of the new state.
The roads leading to the Telangana secretariat in Hyderabad were decorated with cutouts of the new chief minister, bright pink bunting and balloons.
India's new Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to congratulate Rao, promising his "complete support to the people & Government of Telangana" in a message on Twitter.
"India gets a new state! We welcome Telangana as our 29th state. Telangana will add strength to our development journey in the coming years," Modi added.
"Telangana's birth comes after years of struggle and sacrifices by several people. We pay our respects to them today."
Telangana has been carved out of an impoverished northern area of Andhra Pradesh state. Hyderabad, an IT hub home to giants Google and Microsoft, will serve as the capital of both states for the next decade.
The campaign to create a separate state in one of India's most economically deprived regions began in the late 1950s, with its champions arguing the region has been neglected by successive state governments.
However wealthier coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh fiercely opposed the split, fearing that it would trigger economic upheaval.
Nagesh Kumar, a political analyst based in Hyderabad, said the task was now cut out for Rao to deliver on the promises he made to the people during his campaign for a new state.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chosen a daring former spy with years of experience in dealing with Pakistan as his national security adviser, a move officials say signals a more muscular approach to New Delhi's traditional enemy.
The choice of Ajit Doval, alongside former army chief General V K Singh as a federal minister for the northeast region, underscores plans to revamp national security that Modi says became weak under the outgoing government.
The two top-level appointments, reporting directly to Modi, point to a desire to address what are arguably India's two most pressing external security concerns - Pakistan and China, both of which, like India, have nuclear arms.