UPA Panel Approves Creation of Telangana

New Delhi: The UPA coordination committee approved creation of a separate state of Telangana by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh, informed sources said.

The sources said the United Progressive Alliance has decided in favour of Telangana at a meeting held at the prime minister's official residence and attended by leaders of constituent parties like the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party, National Conference and the Rashtriya Lok Dal.

The UPA coordination committee meeting is being followed by a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest decision-making authority, that is expected to take the final decision about carving out Telangana.

Human Resource Development Minister M.M. Pallam Raju had indicated earlier that the Congress leadership was inclined towards taking a decision in favour of a separate Telangana state.

The announcement ended a chapter in the history of Andhra Pradesh, which was formed on Nov 1, 1956 with the merger of Telangana (then known as Hyderabad State) with Andhra State.

Andhra Pradesh will become India's first linguistic state to be divided. Carved out of then Madras State in 1953, it was the first state formed on linguistic basis.

The central government will bifurcate Andhra Pradesh, the fifth most populous state in India with a population of 84.6 million. Spread over 275,000 square km, it ranked fourth among Indian states in terms of geographical area.

Telangana will have a population of 35.38 million and an area of 1.14 lakh square km.Telangana, which comprises 10 districts including Hyderabad, was part of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad and has a distinct culture. Its leaders had accused rulers from Andhra for doing injustice to the region in all sectors and going back on the assurances given at the time of merger.