Telangana Praja Samithi
Telangana Praja Samithi ( TPS , Telugu తెలంగాణా ప్రజాసమితి , “People's Association of Telangana”) was a regional party in India from 1969 to 1971. Its political goal was the establishment of its own state “ Telangana ” from parts of Andhra Pradesh .
Political background
Since the 18th century, the different parts of the Telugu- speaking area in southern India had developed differently. While the areas in the highlands of the Deccan (west of the Eastern Ghats ) (the area later called "Telangana") came under the rule of the Muslim Nizame of Hyderabad , the coastal regions (the Andhra area and the Rayalaseema region) were under the British East India Company colonizes and administratively part of the Madras presidency . After India's independence in 1947, the two areas initially remained administratively separate. In 1956, the States Reorganization Act reorganized state borders based on linguistic criteria. The Telugu-speaking region of the former princely state of Hyderabad was united with the state of Andhra, which was formed in 1953, to form the new state of 'Andhra Pradesh'. Previously, the Chief Ministers of Andhra and Hyderabad, Bezawada Gopala Reddy and Burgula Ramakrishna Rao , agreed on certain points in an agreement known as the Gentlemen's Agreement , which should guarantee that Telangana would lead the way in the new state Andhra should not be disadvantaged. Among other things, it was about the fair distribution of funds, water resources and the like. a. m. between the two parts of the country.
In the following years, however, there were repeated allegations that the Andhra Pradesh government was not adhering to the gentlemen's agreement and unilaterally preferred the coastal region of Andhra. This gave rise to the Telangana movement , which sought increased autonomy or the separation of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh as a separate federal state. Various other motives were mixed in with this movement, for example dissatisfaction with the long monopoly rule of the Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh. The Muslim minority in Telangana hoped that their interests would be better considered in a separate state of Telangana.
Party formation and further development
On February 28, 1969, at a political meeting in Hyderabad, the establishment of a new political party, Telangana Praja Samithi (TPS), was proclaimed. A first party congress took place on March 3, 1969, on which Pratap Kishore was elected first party president. Leading politicians of the new party came from the Congress party , so among others Konda Laxman Bapuji, VB Raju, V. Ramachandra Reddy, so that the party could be seen as a local split from Congress. A mass movement developed with strikes, boycotts and agitations that hindered public life. Dozens of people were killed in the unrest and confrontations with the police and the army. The movement called for the establishment of a separate state of Telangana, which the Indian central government rejected. On April 11, 1969, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi announced an 8-point plan that provided Telangana's financial better position within Andhra Pradesh. However, the plan was immediately rejected by the TPS leaders. In the following time the agitation calmed down and a kind of normality returned. In the parliamentary elections in India in 1971 TPS ran in all of Telangana and was able to win 10 of the 14 constituencies of Telangana. The remaining four went to the Congress Party (constituencies Adilabad , Nizamabad , Khammam ) and the communists (Marxists) (constituency Miryalguda ). Acting Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Kasu Brahmananda Reddy , who had been a major target of the TPS agitation, resigned and PV Narasimha Rao , Congressman from Telangana, became the new Chief Minister. There were negotiations between the Congress leadership and the TPS leadership, with the result that the Telangana Praja Samithi dissolved on September 18, 1971 by resolution of the party assembly as a party and joined the Congress party. The Telangana movement then largely fell silent. On September 21, 1973, an agreement was reached with the Indian central government that aimed at a fairer distribution of resources between the two parts of Andhra Pradesh.
Election results
TPS took part in only one election (apart from by-elections). The percentage refers to the share of votes in the whole of India, based on Andhra Pradesh (13,073,383 valid votes) it was 14.3%, based on Telangana (3,940,484 valid votes) 47.5%. In the general election, Andhra Pradesh was divided into 41 constituencies, 14 of which were Telangana.
| year | choice | be right | percent | Parliament seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 |
 Elected Lok Sabha in 1971
|
1,873,589 | 1.28% |
10/518 |
Later developments
Telangana Praja Samithi was unable to achieve the goal of establishing a state of Telangana. In 2001 the Telangana Rashtra Samithi party was founded, which also pursued this goal and was ultimately successful in 2014.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c From 1948 to 2013: A brief history of the Telangana movement. firstpost.com, July 30, 2013, accessed April 22, 2018 .
- ↑ Pratap Kishore - founder of Telangana Praja Samiti. January 4, 2012, accessed April 22, 2018 .
- ^ Eight-Point Plan for Telangana . In: The Indian Express . April 12, 1969 (English, Google digitized version ).
- ↑ a b Election Results - Full Statistical Reports. Indian Election Commission, accessed on April 22, 2018 (English, election results of all Indian elections to the Lok Sabha and the parliaments of the states since independence).
- ^ Sadhna Sharma: States Politics in India . 5th edition. Mittal Publications, New Delhi 1995, ISBN 81-7099-619-8 , pp. 45 (English).