JEDDAH – People from the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh welcomed the Indian government decision to carve out a separate Telangana state, fulfilling a five-decade-old dream. The ruling Congress party approved a resolution on Tuesday to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh, creating a 29th state of India. “It was a long pending demand. It is a win win situation for both the regions,” Mohammad Khaleequr Rahman, a Congress leader and member of the Andhra Pradesh Waqf Records Computerization Project, told Saudi Gazette on the phone from Hyderabad, a city which will be the joint capital of the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for 10 years. He said Muslims will have a larger role to play in the new scheme of things as Rayalaseema has substantial Muslim population and so has Telangana. Khaleequr Rahman admitted that Congress leaders from Andhra Pradesh are unhappy over the decision. “I respect their sentiments. They had their own attachment with Hyderabad. But they should take it sportingly. It's not a political decision,” he said. He said that the Congress president was committed to her promise for a separate Telangana state, and she fulfilled her pledge even though Telangana was not part of the 2009 Congress manifesto. “A separate Telangana state is good for Muslims, because it will give them political power,” said Aleem Khan Falki, President of the Jeddah-based Socio Reforms Society. “Muslims will now be king-makers,” said Falki, who hails from Hyderabad. The new state comprising mostly the areas of the princely Nizam state will have 17 Lok Sabha (Lower Hose) seats and 119 Legislative Assembly seats. The Telangana state will comprise 10 districts: Hyderabad, Adilabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy, and Warangal. Those who struggled for a separate Telangana state always complained of a discriminatory policy towards the region which accounted for 45 percent of the Andhra income but received only 28 percent share in the utilization of funds. According to the Backward Regions Grant Fund 2009-10, nine of the 13 districts in Andhra Pradesh identified as being backward were in Telangana.
