Difference Between Andhra Pradesh and Telengana

Brief history

Andhra Pradesh & Telengana are two southern states in India. Andhra Pradesh is a coastal state with ports and docks, whereas Telengana is rich in rivers & river basin minerals. Both the states have Telegu as the common language. Telengana was a part of erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad under Nizam dynasty. After the end of Nizam dynasty, the state was annexed to the Union of India, in the year 1948. Andhra Pradesh was previously part of Madras Presidency. During 1953 Andhra Pradesh was curved out of Madras, and became the first linguistically created state in India.

In the year 1953 a political process to unify the two states started. An agreement was reached between the leaders of Andhra Pradesh & Telengana and it was decided that interest of the people of Telengana would be safeguarded in the unified state. Ultimately in 1956 Andhra Pradesh & Telengana became one under the State Reorganisation Act of India. But in 1969, under the leadership of Channa Reddy agitation for a separate state for the people of Telengana kicked off, as it was a wide spread political perception that interests of the people of Telengana were grossly breached by people and politicians of Andhra Pradesh. Ultimately on 2nd June 2014, after a prolonged bloody struggle, separate Telengana state was created and the circle completed. Differences between the two same linguistic groups of people persist for quite a long time, and there is no hope of immediate mitigation of the same given the present socio-economic-political landscape.

Differences

Inherent & Historical

1. Educational: Andhra Pradesh, during the British rule was part of colonial Madras Presidency. This gave people of Andhra Pradesh greater proximity to education system. Andhra has got quite a good number of educational institutions. Telengana for a long part of her history was under Nizams and other feudal lords. This created a feudal mind-set among the people of Telengana. Education was never thought a thing of prime importance in a feudalistic social structure.

2. Dialect: There are differences in dialects between people of the two regions, and the differences are stark among people of southern Andhra and northern Telengana. In some cases the differences are so striking that even two people from different districts talking in the same language find it difficult to understand each other.

3. Social Status: People of Andhra nurture a sense of superiority to the people of Telengana. This has created a wide social gap between the two. Even among youngsters teasing of Telengana youths by Andhra counterparts is a common-place happening in public places even in educational institutions. Seldom do parents of marriage-worthy Andhra girls select a groom from Telengana and vice versa. The Andhra peoples have internalised a sense of more than equal among the equals. This social divide and Andhra highhandedness are also reflected in movies and theatres. The Telegu film industry is dominated by people of Andhra. Most of the films have heroes & heroines from Andhra and the roles of villains, comedians, and base characters are reserved for artistes from Telengana. Even story lines of many movies depict the Telengana people in poor light.

4. Culture: Culturally, Andhra people are ahead of Telengana people. Most of the higher learning institutions of Telegu classical music, art, drama, and literature are dominated by people from Andhra. Most of the Telegu poets and lyricists are from Andhra.

5. Economy & Finance: Economy of Andhra is stronger than that of Telengana. Andhra people are more enterprising than their Telengana counterpart. Investment in big industries is more in Andhra than in Telengana. Andhra experienced boom in Information Technology industry.

6. Agriculture: Telengana is predominantly agricultural state. Agricultural produce of Telengana is more than that of Andhra.

7. Festivals: Though there are many common festivals of both the states, still there exist some festivals celebrated by people of either of the states.
8. Food Habits: Food habits of Telengana are influenced by Maharashtra and Karnataka, whereas those of Andhra are influenced by Orissa.

Political & Administrative differences

Apart from the above mentioned inherent differences, there exist a number of political and administrative differences between the two states. These are also new bones of contention between the two states. Most of these differences are due to political and administrative decisions. These are;

1. State Capital: Hyderabad is the state capital of Telengana. Andhra Pradesh doesn’t have any full-fledged state capital.

2. Policing Hyderabad: Hyderabad is within the geographical territory of Andhra, though it is the capital of Telengana. As such Andhra government wants to have law and order authority over Hyderabad. Telengana government opposes this move with the logic that a state government must have the right to oversee law & order of its capital, irrespective of its geographical location.

3. Release of Water: Telengana government declines to release the volume of water from Nagarjunsagar reservoir down-stream to Andhra as demanded by Andhra for irrigation purposes.

4. Financial Assistance for Higher Education: Telengana government has decided to offer financial assistance to the wards of parents aspiring for higher education, who have started to live in Telengana before 1956. This has certainly irked the people of Andhra and the government as well, as this amounts to clear discrimination towards the higher education aspirants whose parents migrated to Telengana after 1956.

5. Power Shortage: Telengana faces acute power shortage. Andhra Pradesh is power sufficient state, but declines to supply power to Telengana which the later badly needs for new industries.

6. Secretariat Building: The secretariat building in Hyderabad has been divided by erecting temporary divisions to segregate employees of the two states. Andhra government wants this to be removed but Telengana government declines to comply.

7. Revoking Grant of Land to Government Employees: Telengana government wants to take back the huge tract of land originally granted to non-gazetted officers of Andhra government. The matter is now sub-judice.

8. Revocation of Permission to Andhra Film Chamber: Telengana government wants to revoke permission given to Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber to build-up academy on land belonging to the Telengana government, due to the reason that the film chamber is dominated by people from Andhra.

9. Revocation of Land Allotment for Firms: Telengana government has selectively cancelled land allotment to firms promoted by Andhra politician cum entrepreneurs.

10. Deal with Central Government: Andhra Pradesh has secured a deal with the Central government for uninterrupted power supply, depriving Telengana. This has given rise to a sense of negligence among Telengana people on the part of Central government.

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