The second major issue was the balance of funds. In Circar districts,
alcohol was banned; as a result, there was no excise revenue. That was not the
case in Nizam Telangana districts, which generated significant excise revenue
on alcohol sales. Consequently, the government received more revenues from
the Nizam Telangana region than from the rest of the state. The gentlemen’s
agreement stipulated that the excess revenue should be invested in the Nizam
Telangana region for economic stimulation. The government failed to fulfill
this clause effectively. All party Telangana legislatures determined the balance
of funds to be 33 crores. Undoubtedly, a significant sum in those days, but it
was accrued over 15 years. The state government agreed to resolve the issue
of balance of funds. Based on all party legislatures’ demands, the government
planned to spend 33 crores in the early part of the fourth five-year plan.
With that background, let us now delve into the bloody fight for the
separate Telangana state that was fought for less than 5,000 non-mulki jobs.
In other words, the issue affected a miniscule 0.033% of the approximately 1.5
crore people living in the Nizam Telangana region.
There were two major people movements between 1968 and 1973— the
first one was Jai Telangana, and Jai Andhra followed it. With these movements,
Telugu politicians reached the lowest depths of opportunism and demagoguery.
This must be one of the darkest chapters of our modern Telugu history.
There were three main players in this tragic story. Dr. Marri Chenna
Reddy, a prominent leader at the time of state formation. In 1956, he was
an integrationist who supported Vishalandhra. However, when he realized
that Nehru was against an integrated state, Chenna Reddy quickly changed
colors and became a separatist and a proponent of a Telangana state. Chenna
Reddy later advocated a bilingual state of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
His changing position on the separate state issue is ample evidence of his
opportunism and lack of conviction. After the formation of the state of Andhra
Pradesh, Dr. Chenna Reddy went on to become the central minister of steel in
the Congress government.
In 1968, the High Court nullified Chenna Reddy’s election, and the
Supreme Court upheld the decision. He was found guilty of using religion
as a platform for his election campaigning. As a result, Chenna Reddy was
forced out of power, and he had to stay out of public office for six years.
Chenna Reddy made the Telangana movement his fulltime job, puppeteering
the student movement for a separate state from behind the scenes. Once
the movement caught on people’s imagination, he burst onto the separatist
movement scene as its leader.
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