When a new state was born

After a struggle of more than four decades, Telangana was carved out of And hr a Pradesh as India’ s 29 th state in June 2014. And them an who led the battle in the final phase was Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao. KCR, as the CM of the new state is popularly known, founded the Telan ga na Rash tr aS ami thi(T RS) in 2001 t os pearhead the movement for state hood, eventually achieving it without any bloodshed.

In no time, KCR emerged as one of the region’s tallest leaders. In the 2004 general election, in alliance with the Congress, his party won 24 assembly and five Lok Sabha seats. K CR moved to New Delhi as labour minister in the UPA cabinet. In 2006, he left the UPA and continuedhis struggle for a separate state. He joined hands with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)andthe Left parties to form a grand alliance in 2009, but the experiment failed.

The 63-year-old started his political career as a Youth Congress leader in 1977. In 1983, he joined T DP, floated by mat inee idol, NT Ram a Rao. Though he lost his first election to the assembly in 1983, he won all the subsequent MLA elections –from Siddipet in 1985, 1989, 1994, 1999 and 2001, and from Gajwel in 2014.

Hewonthe Karimnagar Lok Sabhaseatin 2004,2006 and 2008, and M ah bub nag arin 2009. In the 2014 general elections, when he won from Med ak, the TRSw on 63 out of 119 assembly seats and 11 of 17 Lo kS ab has eats to storm to power in Te lang ana. Here signed from Parliament to beth estate’ s first chief minister.