At last, the YSR Congress party government has announced celebration of Andhra Pradesh Formation Day on Friday, five years after the combined state was bifurcated.
Instructions were issued to all the district collectors to celebrate the AP formation day in a big way on November 1.
In Vijayawada, too, there are going to be large scale celebrations for three consecutive days, starting from Friday.
Governor Bishwabhushan Harichandan and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy will grace the occasion.
So far so good. But why did Jagan choose November 1 as the state formation day?
No doubt, Andhra Pradesh was formed on this date in 1956, but it was after the merger of Telangana with existing Andhra state.
So, when Telangana was again demerged or separated from Andhra, what is the relevance of November 1, except that the word “Pradesh” is still attached to it?
According to activists, the actual date of the formation of Andhra state, in its present shape, is October 1. This state was formed as an independent entity after being part of Madras state for several decades during the British period.
Several people, including Potti Sriramulu, sacrificed their lives for Andhra state, which became a reality on October 1.
“So, this date has a sanctity. Since Andhra state formed on October 1 is similar to what it is today, the state formation day should be October 1 and not November 1. If Jagan does not agree with this argument, he should have chosen at least June 2 as the state formation day, as it was on this day that the present residuary state of Andhra Pradesh was formed along with Telangana,” an activist argued.
So far, there is no explanation from the government as to why it has chosen November 1 as the state formation day.
