Dividing the spoils: Who gets Hyderabad?

Hyderabad is Andhra Pradesh’s showpiece and pride. But it lies in the heart of the Telangana region. If Telangana is made a separate state, who gets Hyderabad?

Hyderabad is Andhra Pradesh’s showpiece and pride. But it lies in the heart of the Telangana region. If Telangana is made a separate state, who gets Hyderabad?

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Andhra wants to retain it, Telangana wants it at any cost. Lok Sabha MP from the Telangana region’s northernmost district Adilabad, Ramesh Rathod told HT: “Telangana will mean something only if Hyderabad is there. We have no resource except this city. Where will the Telangana government draw income from?”

Countered Congress MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy from Nellore, the southern tip of coastal Andhra: “People from coastal Andhra and Rayalseema are responsible for the development of Hyderabad. There is no need for the state to be split.”

“Nearly 80 per cent of Hyderabad’s business resources are with people from coastal Andhra, the more developed part of the state,” historian Y. Chinna Rao, who teaches at Delhi’s JNU, says. “The only solution is to have Hyderabad as a union territory.”

Political scientist Jyotirmaya Sharma of Hyderabad Central University said:, “Either Hyderabad goes to Telangana and Vishakhapatnam becomes the capital of Andhra. Or, the Union Territory model is followed. The third option: Hyderabad remains with Telangana and twin-city Secunderad goes to Andhra.”