K Chandrashekhar Rao sworn in as Telangana CM, promises corruption free govt

Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) chief K Chandrashekhar Rao was on Monday sworn-in as the first Chief Minister of Telangana, which became the 29th state of India.

Zee Media Bureau/Ritesh K Srivastava

Hyderabad: Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) chief K Chandrashekhar Rao was on Monday sworn-in as the first Chief Minister of Telangana, which also became the 29th state of India. Rao was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor ESL Narasimhan in a simple ceremony at the Raj Bhavan around 8.47 am. Eleven ministers have also taken oath in K Chandrasekhar Rao`s Cabinet in the new state of Telangana. The ministers, who took oath today, include Mahmood Ali, Dr T Rajaiah, Nayani, Etala, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Harish Rao and KT Rama Rao. Shortly after taking the oath, Telangana`s first Chief Minister unfurled the national flag and reviewed a colourful parade to mark the formation of India`s 29th state. Rao hoisted the tricolour and took salute at an impressive parade held at Parade Grounds, Secunderabad. In his first public address as the CM, Rao vowed to make Telangana a model state in all respects and said that welfare and development would be the two driving forces of his government. The Telangana government would maintain cordial relationship not only with the Centre but also neighbouring states, Chandrasekhar Rao said. Rooting out "political corruption" would also be top on his agenda to ensure transparent governance, he said. "People of Telangana are looking forward for a progressive and development-oriented state. We will work in that direction and ensure a transparent administration. We will make Telangana a model state in the country in all respects," KCR promised. It was a historic moment as KCR, as Rao is popularly known, unfurled the flag at the main official celebrations, attended by his cabinet colleagues, senior officials, and a large number of policemen and people. KCR, who played a key role in the state`s formation, waved at the crowd as he drove in an open top vehicle at the sprawling ground to review the parade. There were loud cheers from the people, some of whom were holding national flags. Various battalions of police from different parts of Telangana, City Armed Reserve, mounted police, Special protection Force (SPF) and home guard participated in the parade. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today congratulated KCR and assured him of full help in taking the newly created state forward. “Congrats to K Chandrasekhar Rao Garu on taking oath as Telangana`s 1st CM. My best wishes to people for the state`s development journey. Centre assures complete support to the people & Government of Telangana in taking the state to newer heights of progress,” the PM tweeted. “India gets a new state! We welcome Telangana as our 29th state. Telangana will add strength to our development journey in the coming years. Telangana`s birth comes after years of struggle and sacrifices by several people. We pay our respects to them today,” he further tweeted. Home Minister Rajnath Singh also tweeted, “Congratulations to Shri K. Chandrashekhar Rao on taking oath as the first Chief Minister of the new Telangana state. My good wishes to him.” Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, the Home Ministry announced this morning that President`s Rule in newly-created Telangana region has been revoked. The Central rule would, however, continue in the residual AP until TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu takes charge as chief minister, which is likely on June 8. Before taking oath, the TRS chief paid tributes to the martyrs of Telangana at Gun Park near the Legislative Assembly. Celebrations began here and all across Telangana on Sunday night to rejoice at the culmination of the decades-old struggle in the region for carving out a separate state from Andhra Pradesh. TRS, Congress and other political parties as well as pro-Telangana groups planned a number of events in Hyderabad and elsewhere to celebrate the realisation of the decades-long dream. KCR will chair the first Cabinet meeting where he is expected to sign the first file relating to the logo of the Telangana state. The journey towards achieving the goal of separate Telangana has been momentous and there have been a number of milestones in the saga. In 1956, Andhra and the then Hyderabad state were merged to form Andhra Pradesh, the first state to be formed on linguistic basis in the country. In 1969, an agitation for formation of separate Telangana began and about 300 people were reportedly killed in the agitation. In a big fillip to the separate Telangana agitation, BJP came out in support of separate statehood demand and it promised "one vote, two states" in the 1998 elections. A group of Congress MLAs from Telangana submitted a memorandum to party president Sonia Gandhi in 2000 demanding separate statehood to the region. The separate Telangana agitation got a huge boost in 2001 when the then TDP leader K Chandrasekhar Rao quit the party and launched the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) to fight for separate state. TDP announced support for separate Telangana demand in 2008 and it joined hands with TRS for the 2009 Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Elections. The Telangana agitation grew subsequently after chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy died in a chopper crash in September 2009 as he was seen as a formidable opponent of separate Telangana. The TRS president began a fast-unto-death towards the end of 2009 and the then Union home minister P Chidambaram announced on December 9, 2009, that steps would be taken for formation of separate Telangana. In the wake of strong protests in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, the Centre set up a commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge BN Srikrishna, for more consultations on the issue. The Commission presented six options to the Centre. On July 30, 2013, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) favoured formation of separate Telangana. The Union Cabinet approved the proposal to divide Andhra Pradesh in October 2013. After the Union Cabinet approved the bifurcation, a Group of Ministers (GoM) was appointed to go into the issue of AP`s division. The Union Cabinet approved the draft AP Reorganisation Bill on December 5, 2013, based on the recommendations of the GoM. President Pranab Mukherjee referred the Bill to the AP Legislative Assembly for its views. The Bill was, however, rejected by the Assembly on January 30 this year amid din. The Bill was tabled in Parliament for passage and the Lok Sabha witnessed unprecedented scenes with a group of Congress MPs moving a no-confidence motion against the UPA government. Uproarious scenes were witnessed in Lok Sabha with Seemandhra MP L Rajagopal using pepper-spray, though the Bill was passed in Parliament with the support of BJP. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who raised a banner of revolt against the decision to divide AP, resigned from his post when the Lok Sabha passed the Telangana Bill in February this year. The process of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh began following the passage of the Bill in Parliament and June 2 was declared as the `Appointed Day` when Telangana would come into existence as the 29th state of India. In the Lok Sabha and Assembly Elections held last month, the ruling Congress suffered a humiliating defeat both in Seemandhra and also Telangana. With 63 of 119 Assembly seats, TRS bagged majority in Telangana paving way for the party`s president K Chandrasekhar Rao to be sworn in as the first chief minister of the new state on Monday.