The story of the Partition Committee of 1949 that discussed the division of Andhra State from Madras

The days of 1st and 3rd October hold historical significance for Tamil Nadu. Andhra State was inaugurated on October 1, 1953, consisting of 11 predominantly Telugu-speaking districts, which until then were part of the erstwhile Madras State, now known as Tamil Nadu. Later in November 1956, Hyderabad State, currently known as Telangana, was merged with Andhra, which was renamed Andhra Pradesh.

On the other hand, on October 3, 1995, veteran Tamil scholar and former Chairman of the now defunct Legislative Council MP Sivagananam passed away, one of the key leaders who had campaigned vigorously for retaining Madras (now Chennai) and Tirutanni within Tamil Nadu.

chorus for separate state

The formation of Andhra in 1953 was preceded by a number of unpleasant incidents, including the death of freedom fighter Potti Sriramulu in Mylapore, Madras on December 15, 1952, after a 58-day fast for the creation of the first state on linguistic basis.

The seeds for such a state were sown at a meeting in Bapatla (in Andhra Pradesh) in 1913 and the demand came as a sequel to the constitutions of Bihar and Odisha two years earlier, as academician S. According to a paper by Sudhakar Reddy. International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and ManagementThe paper also stated that “Although the Telugu districts contained forty percent of the population of the Madras Presidency and forty-eight percent of the area, the Telugu people had no voice in the politics of the region.”

In fact, a similar point was made in 1949 by veteran Congress leader and philanthropist Sami Venkatachalam Chetty, who served as a member of the Central Legislative Assembly (predecessor to Parliament) and a member of the Madras Legislative Council and Corporation Council during British rule.

At a meeting in the Mahajan Sabha Hall, Chetty argued that “the overwhelming Tamil majority in the administration and services 30 years ago was a reason for Andhra’s discontent and claim for a separate state”, according to. The Hindu’Report on September 18, 1949.

But, a look at history makes one wonder whether the unfortunate events, including the death of Potti Sriramulu and the subsequent loss of human lives, could have been prevented if, in November 1949, the central government had agreed in principle to create a separate state.

In fact, this position was contrary to its stance, which was clearly against the creation of states on a linguistic basis, especially in view of the findings of the Linguistic Provinces Commission headed by former Allahabad High Court judge SK Dar and the JVP (Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhai Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramaiya) Committee.

on strict deadlines

As a sequel to the Centre’s decision, a body – the Partition Committee – was constituted during the first week of December 1949 to consider the matter. The committee, which included many eminent personalities from public life, had actually gone against the grain in view of the January 26, 1950 deadline suggested by the Central Government to complete the process of establishing the new state. As is well known, the Constitution of India came into force on this day.

a possibility

The panel deliberated and submitted a report well before the due date. But, on some issues, especially on Chennai city, no consensus could be reached among the committee members. Had the panel succeeded in its mission, the history of South India would have been different.

Little is known about the work of the committee, even though it could have paved the way for a smooth separation as early as 1950, if the political leaders at the Center and in the Tamil-speaking and Telugu-speaking areas had reached an agreement among themselves.

panel members

Although news of this move by the Central Government had emerged in the last week of November 1949, it took about 10 days for the Madras Government to settle the issue of the composition of the panel. The details related to the composition were made public only on 7 December 1950.

The committee headed by the then Chief Minister PS Kumaraswamy Raja included K. It was Madhava Menon. TT Krishnamachari, B. Gopal Reddy, N. Sanjeeva Reddy, T. Prakasam and Kala Venkat Kao as members. Except Menon, who was a member of the Legislative Council, and TTK, a member of the Constituent Assembly, all others were members of the Legislative Assembly.

In fact, Raza Khan, a representative from Chittoor (now in Andhra Pradesh), asked Gopal Reddy, who was the leader of the House and the finance minister, whether the chief minister or his cabinet was “being very careful in selecting representatives from Andhra region because they are very accommodating, accommodating and….”, the report said. The Hindu On January 7, 1950, Assembly Speaker J. Sivashanmugam Pillai intervened and ruled that he could not allow such questions.

Among the members were Prakasam and Reddy who became the first and second Chief Ministers of Andhra State in 1953 and 1955 respectively. In 1956, Sanjiva Reddy became the first Chief Minister of expanded Andhra Pradesh.

The panel was ordered to “discuss and decide on all the points raised in the communications of the Government of India” sent to the Government of Madras regarding the proposed state. Only the border question was removed from the scope of the panel.

Originally, panel chief Kumaraswamy Raja was of the view that it was “humanly impossible” to complete the work before the due date – January 26.

Reiterating his views at a press conference on 14 December, he spoke on the financial implications of a separate state. The area that would become Andhra province would face an “initial deficit” of about ₹1.8 crore, the figure of which, he said, did not take into account receipts from tobacco tax or income tax.

Admitting that in the event of a deficit he “has no right to say whether there should be a new province or not,” the chief minister said it was for the central government and those in support of the new state to decide.

claim for chennai

Although expectations were high by the end of December 1949 that Andhra State would become a reality by the first Republic Day, the issue on which consensus could not be reached among the members was that of the city of Chennai. The representatives of the Andhra region agreed with the fact that their claim to the city was not getting support even from the Centre, but still, they wanted their presence in Chennai for a limited or brief period.

On 31 December, the committee met in the Cabinet Room of the Secretariat in Chennai; Assessed the requirements of government officials and employees for the proposed state, and decided to virtually replicate the bureaucratic system of Tamil Nadu.

task completion

On New Year’s Day, the panel met and formally concluded its work, but Prakasam raised three relevant issues in his note, the most prominent of which was the treatment of Chennai as the temporary capital of the new state. He had sought a provision of ₹1 crore for the development of the new capital and ₹12 crore as Andhra’s share in hydro-electric projects.

capital sharing

The idea of ​​sharing Chennai as the capital with Andhra for a few years was summarily rejected in both 1950 and 1953, when Andhra State actually came into existence. But, a similar idea of ​​a common or joint capital – almost 60 years later in relation to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana – came to fruition in 2014, when Hyderabad became such a capital for both the states following the bifurcation of Telangana on January 2, 1950, according to this newspaper.

report confidential

On 11 January 1950, while replying to a question by veteran leader Tenetti Viswanatham about the contents of the Committee’s report, Gopal Reddy told the Assembly that the Government treated the report and notes as “completely confidential”, with the result that it would not be able to table them in the House.

Given the lack of consensus on the capital issue, the panel’s commendable work went unnoticed. About a year and a half later, when Sitaram Shastri and others were on a fast in support of statehood, Prime Minister Nehru wanted all concerned leaders to reach an understanding on all issues, including the capital.

Ultimately, Andhra State was formed in October 1953, about 10 months after Sriramulu’s death.