Telangana Day in India Date in the current year: June 2, 2024

Telangana is a state situated on the Deccan Plateau in southern India. Throughout its long history, Telangana was part of various Indian states, from the Maurya Empire to the Hyderabad State. In the 19th century, Hyderabad became a semi-sovereign princely state of the British Raj.

In 1946, peasants of the Telangana region revolted against feudal lords. The Telangana Rebellion was supported by the Communist Party of India that was heavily involved in independence struggle. The next year, with the rebellion in full swing, India declared its independence from Great Britain.

The Nizam (ruler) of Hyderabad wanted to join neither the Indian Union nor Pakistan, hoping to preserve the independence of the Hyderabad State. This didn’t sit well with the Indian government, so it launched the police action codenamed Operation Polo and annexed Hyderabad in September 1948. After that, the violent phase of the rebellion began to die down.

In December 1953, the government of India began preparations for the reorganization of state boundaries primarily on a linguistic basis. The leaders of the Telugu-speaking regions of Telangana and Andhra (that were parts of Hyderabad and Madras, respectively) agreed to merge the regions to form a new state.

In February 1956, Andhra and Telangana leaders signed a gentlemen’s agreement to safeguard the interests of Telangana and prevent its discrimination by the state government. On November 1, 1956, the two regions officially merged to form the unified state of Andhra Pradesh.

Unfortunately, the government of the newly formed state didn’t respect some of the clauses of the gentlemen’s agreement. Proponents of Telangana statehood believed that there were injustices in budget allocations and water distribution. According to studies, most government employees in Andhra Pradesh were from outside Telangana, despite the fact that the Telangana region constituted about half of the state’s area.

Throughout the following years, mass protests in support of Telangana statehood repeatedly took place in Andhra Pradesh, major ones occurring in 1969, 1972, and 2009. In December 2009, the Government of India announced that it considered the separation of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh. This resulted in new protests, this time in support of keeping Andhra Pradesh united.

It took more than four years for Telangana to finally split from Andhra Pradesh. On March 1, 2014, President Pranab Mukherjee signed the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, which came into effect on June 2, 2014, officially creating the new state of Telangana.

Telangana Day has been celebrated annually since the state’s formation in 2014. It is an official holiday marked by statewide festive events celebrating the historical and cultural heritage of Telangana, such as flag raising ceremonies, parades, political speeches, concerts, fairs, festivals, and more.