NEW DELHI, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Telangana is set to become India's 29th state after Parliament approved the measure, ending its long, arduous and even violent journey.
Proceedings in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament, marked by another day of raucous and angry debates, numerous disruptions and even scuffles, lasted late into the evening Thursday before the Telangana bill was approved, largely with the support of the ruling Congress Party and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.
Awaiting now only the signature of the country's president to make the process final, Telangana, comprising the state's inner and economically weaker, resource-poor region that is highly prone to droughts, will be carved out of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh to become a new state. It had taken decades and a hard-fought struggle with numerous lives lost for the 36 million people of the region to realize their dream.
Telangana supporters will also get to keep for up to 10 years as a joint capital the large and jobs-rich city of Hyderabad, an information technology hub and home to India offices of international giants such as Microsoft.
Lawmakers from Andhra Pradesh and some other political parties had strongly protested Telangana's creation, with some warning it will only lead to other larger Indian states to be further divided on the basis of regional languages or regional politics.
