Politics of Telangana
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The Indian state of Telangana was founded in 2014. Its territory had formerly been part of Andhra Pradesh. The Telangana movement was instrumental in the creation of the new state, and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (previously, Telangana Rashtra Samithi), a party which led the Telangana movement after 2001, formed the government in the Telangana Legislative Assembly under its leader K. Chandrashekar Rao as the 1st Chief Minister of the state. The political landscape of Telangana is dominated by the Indian National Congress and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen being other significant forces.
The Indian National Congress draws most of its strength from rural areas whereas the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen have their strongholds in the GHMC and surrounding areas. The Bharatiya Janata Party has increased its vote base in recent years.
The Telugu Desam Party and the YSR Congress Party also used to have major sway in the state, although they have since lost most of their presence, and have been limited to residual Andhra Pradesh.
The incumbent Chief Minister of the state is Revanth Reddy from the Indian National Congress.
In the early Telangana movement, Marri Chenna Reddy formed a party called Telangana Praja Samithi to lead the Telangana movement. In November 1969, there was a major split in the party and as a result the movement declined. After two years the Telangana Praja Samithi was dissolved and its members rejoined the Congress.[1]
A successor party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, was formed in 2001 by Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (KCR). On 29 November 2009, KCR started a fast-unto-death, demanding that the Congress party introduce a Telangana bill in Parliament.[2] Student organisations, employee unions, and various organisations joined the movement.[3] As general strikes shut down much economic activity in Telangana, Telangana Bill was passed in Lok Sabha on 18 February 2014[4] and in Rajya Sabha on 18 February 2014.[5] On 4 March 2014 the Government of India declared that 2 June would be the Telangana Formation Day.[6]
