Starting Sunday, the last official connection between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will be severed, with Hyderabad ceasing to be the joint capital of the Telugu states and becoming solely the capital of Telangana.
This may cause some heartache for the people of Andhra Pradesh, as they still lack a proper capital city even after 10 years of bifurcation, while their Telangana counterparts will be the sole proprietors of a global city like Hyderabad.
In fact, the people of Andhra Pradesh lost Hyderabad as their capital nearly nine years ago, when then-chief minister and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu moved from Hyderabad to Vijayawada following the infamous cash-for-vote scandal.
However, Naidu gave the impression that he was building a world-class capital at Amaravati. He could have operated from Hyderabad until the new capital was constructed since the Andhra secretariat and the state assembly were still functioning from the joint capital.
But Naidu preferred to operate from Vijayawada, and within months, the entire secretariat staff moved to Amaravati. Soon after, the state assembly was shifted, and a couple of years later, even the high court moved.
For all practical purposes, Hyderabad has not been the capital of Andhra Pradesh since 2015. Yet, the people of Andhra Pradesh had an emotional connection with the city, as it remained the joint capital at least on record. Moreover, the Andhra Pradesh government still controlled a few buildings in Hyderabad.
But starting Sunday, even this last connection will be lost as Hyderabad will now completely belong to Telangana. This does not mean, however, that the people of Andhra have lost everything connected to Hyderabad. The emotional bond between the people of both states will continue.
Andhra people have significant stakes in Hyderabad in terms of relationships, investments in real estate and businesses, education, and even medical purposes. They still feel a sense of ownership in Telangana, particularly Hyderabad, and nothing prevents them from going there.
Culturally, the people of the Telugu states have a strong bond, sharing a common language, despite differences in dialects. Andhra cuisine is enjoyed in Telangana and vice versa. Films made in Andhra have a huge market in Hyderabad, and so do films made in Telangana in Andhra.
So, geographically, Hyderabad might have become part of Telangana, but it continues to be a home for the people of Andhra Pradesh!