In addition to dividing the former Andhra Pradesh into the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act of 2014 was the catalyst for two significant historical developments in the nation’s political landscape. What Sonia distorted, Modi is trying to rectify.
When this measure was introduced in the Lok Sabha in February 2014, the notorious pepper spray incident took place. Congressman Lagadapati Rajagopal, who was desperate to stop it from passing, took a pepper spray out of his pocket and doused the defenceless members of the 15th Lok Sabha. To allow her own government’s bill to pass, Sonia Gandhi had to suspend her MPs from the Lok Sabha.
When Modi responded to the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against his government in 2018, he said the now-famous words, “I wish the opposition all the best in bringing the same motion in 2023 too.” This motion of no confidence was primarily prompted by concerns about the way the AP Reorg Act was being implemented!
In its very first cabinet meeting in May 2014, the Modi government had to redraw the boundaries of the two states due to the act’s faulty and negligent drafting. It was imperative to make sure there were no problems before June 2, 2014, the formal day of the bifurcation. The Narendra Modi government was tasked with cleaning up many of the substandard components of this catastrophe over the next ten years and meeting the 10-year deadline that the UPA set for several projects.
Thirteen distinct educational institutions—two in Telangana and eleven in Andhra Pradesh—are promised under the Thirteenth Schedule of this Act. To compensate for the dearth of excellent institutions outside of the Hyderabad region, this was done. The table below shows that during these ten years, the Narendra Modi administration has either sanctioned or founded each of these institutes.
Within a year of receiving accreditation, all of the institutes began offering instruction. October 2023 saw the Tribal University in Telangana receive its most recent approval. Unfriendly media attempted to create a mountain out of a molehill for some of these approvals in an attempt to make Chandrababu Naidu appear good; nevertheless, as the table shows, the majority of institutes were operational during the first NDA term (despite having ten years to just approve!).
The Thirteenth Schedule’s second part is a prime illustration of how sloppily Sonia Gandhi’s administration drafted the Act and then handed it off to Modi for cleanup. Three infrastructure projects were promised under the Act, as shown in the table below:
The Act contained a vague promise that the NHAI would increase road connections in Telangana’s interior areas. Sonia Gandhi would never have guessed that Narendra Modi would essentially change Telangana’s road system as well as all of India. For Telangana alone, a staggering INR 1,00,000 crores were spent on roads (NHAI alone spent 75,000 crores of that amount!). Next on the list of promises is a 4000 MW NTPC plant. This was approved by the Modi government in 2016, and Phase 1 (with 1600 MW) is currently operational.
The statement, “The Government of India shall develop a new major port in Duggirajapatnam, Andhra Pradesh,” is the one that has not been kept. The chief minister of the Congress party advised against building a port in Duggirajapatnam in 2012. The technical committee of the UPA government determined in 2013 that a port would not be feasible due to environmental concerns and, more significantly, would present difficulties for ISRO’s Sriharikota launch centre. Nevertheless, Sonia Gandhi decides to pledge the creation of a port in this very town.
After making another try, NITI Aayog concludes that having a major port so close to Chennai (80 km), Ennore (80 km), and Krishnapatnam (40 km) is absurd in addition to clearance concerns! Thus, the project had to be put on hold. The state administration abandoned its attempt to build a second port in the town of Ramayapatnam. Sad to say, Sonia Gandhi made a known pledge of something she knew no one would ever recommend.
The poor work doesn’t stop here. As seen in the table below, the Thirteenth timetable includes numerous “feasibility studies” for various infrastructure projects.
“Improving rail and road connectivity between Vijayawada and Hyderabad” was the subject of yet another hazy pledge. These days, there is strong road connectivity between the two cities as well as the two states. Better connectivity throughout the two states as well as between these two cities was guaranteed by the railway investments. Sonia Gandhi had no idea at the time how drastically Modi would change India’s connection!
A “feasibility study” to enlarge the current three airports and make them international (albeit one was already international) was promised. Modi went above and beyond by approving the extension of three new greenfield airports, adding one new airport to UDAN, approving the expansion of another new airport, and expanding two of the existing airports to international status! Sonia Gandhi had no idea how Modi would change the Indian transit system—let alone Telangana!
Within six months, feasibility studies for four projects—a greenfield refinery, a rail coach manufacturer, and steel plants in Khammam, Telangana, and Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh—were to be completed. Every feasibility report has come to the same conclusion—none of these ideas are feasible! The deceit employed by Sonia Gandhi to present a mere “feasibility study” as a guarantee of real implementation is simply unmatched. Thus, even though the Modi administration formally carried out the feasibility assessments that were promised for every project, he has taken a lot of unjust criticism for not building projects that were not viable! The state governments showed no interest in cooperating with the Modi government, even though the latter sought to find alternative locations for these projects.
Not just infrastructure projects, but educational institutions are also subject to ambiguity. The Act’s Section 94 makes the hazy pledge to provide financial incentives “as necessary.” This might mean anything at all! By giving financial support to underprivileged regions in both states and offering additional incentives, as seen in the table below, the Modi administration has effectively brought this ambiguous promise to fruition.
A vague pledge of financial support for the nation’s capital was made; the Modi administration provided INR 1500 crores for it as well (the monies were also used to build drainage systems, the High Court, and the Secretariat). The Modi administration not only implemented projects and institutes that were not included in the act but also went above and beyond what was promised.
If you’re not from Andhra Pradesh, you might be wondering why the Modi government isn’t doing better after keeping all of its promises. The central problem was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s (not stated in the Act) promise of special status for Andhra Pradesh during a floor speech in the Rajya Sabha. He guaranteed the five-year special status (2014–2019).
The BJP’s Venkaiah Naidu assured the parliament that this would be extended to ten years if the party wins power. The 10-year Special Status was marketed as the solution to every problem that AP would face following the separation. In the lead-up to the 2014 elections, the Jana Sena, TDP, and BJP parties pushed this. Following the elections, the Modi government announced a special package rather than the promised special status due to recommendations made by the 14th Finance Commission.
The already emotionally volatile inhabitants of Andhra Pradesh did not take well to this. No amount of factual discussion could instill faith in the populace. There’s no denying that the promise was breached, but the corrective actions were commendable. It was a twofold mistake to not convey them correctly.
But this failed pledge shouldn’t be used as an excuse to ignore the careless and possibly hazardous division of the state. We must never forget how Congress MPs used violence in the Lok Sabha, how they had to form a circle around the country’s Home Minister to keep other MPs from attacking them, how Congress Cabinet ministers were denied access to the Act before it reached the Cabinet, how the Home Minister of India stood up and declared that, even though he drafted the bill, he would assign that responsibility to another minister, Jairam Ramesh, and how the live broadcast of the Lok Sabha was interrupted when the bill was put to vote! One of the worst-planned state splits ever occurred as a result of Sonia Gandhi’s disregard for conventions and procedure.
Because of the poor drafting of the Act, there are still issues that need to be handled between the Telangana and AP state governments. One such example is the ongoing battle between them over the assets of 12 institutions that Jairam Ramesh neglected to include in the list. Hopefully, such irresponsible people won’t ever lead India again.
