The year 2013 could well be the last page in the history of 'united' Andhra Pradesh as the state stands on the verge of a geographical separation.
If everything goes as per the government's plan, Andhra Pradesh will get divided into two states - Telangana and (residual) Andhra Pradesh - early this year, bringing to an end the history of a state that remained united for 58 years.
Andhra Pradesh was the first state in the country to be created on a linguistic basis on November 1, 1956 by merging the erstwhile Andhra state and Hyderabad state.
In 1953, Andhra state was carved out of the then Madras Presidency with Kurnool as its capital.
Subsequently, the Telugu-speaking parts of the then Hyderabad state were amalgamated with Andhra state, giving birth to Andhra Pradesh in 1956.
The proposal for amalgamation of Hyderabad state with Andhra state came up in 1953 and the then Chief Minister of Hyderabad state, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, supported the Congress central leadership's decision in this regard though there was opposition in the region that was known as Telangana.
Accepting the merger proposal, the Andhra state Assembly passed a resolution on November 25, 1955 promising to safeguard the interests of Telangana.
An agreement was reached between Telangana leaders and Andhra leaders on February 20, 1956 to merge Telangana and Andhra with promises to safeguard Telangana's interests.
Another agreement was then signed by then chief ministers of the respective states, Bezawada Gopala Reddy and Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, to the effect.
The city of Hyderabad, the then capital of Hyderabad state, was made the capital of Andhra Pradesh.
