A bill to create Telangana by dividing Andhra Pradesh was passed amid protests, but its live telecast was cut off in an unprecedented blackout, the Guardian reported.
Approved by India's lower house, Lok Sabha, on Tuesday, the controversial proposal was passed amid chaotic scenes and uproar in parliament from opponents of the bill.
If the bill is passed in the upper house, Rajya Sabha, the state capital Hyderabad, where Google, Microsoft and Dell have major sites, will remain the common capital of the two states for a period of 10 years.
"Politicians from Andhra Pradesh's prosperous coastal region have repeatedly protested in parliament over the division, with one legislator firing pepper spray last week," the Guardian reported. "The speaker adjourned the house three times after disruptions on Tuesday."
Jagan Mohan Reddy, an Andhra Pradesh politician said, "This is a black day in the history of this country and we're declaring a bandh [shutdown] tomorrow in the state of Andhra Pradesh in protest."
The decision to break up the southern state was made ahead of elections due by May. Critics said the Congress party, which proposed the bill and leads a coalition government, is seeking to shore up its political fortunes after dragging its feet over an issue that has lasted four decades, according to the Guardian.
Congress's attempts to rush the bill through parliament without proper debate was opposed by a leader of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata party (BJP).
An opposition leader in the lower house, Sushma Swaraj, told reporters, "We have always supported the bill. But we oppose the game the Congress played to pass it."
Claiming that a new state is the only solution, supporters said Telangana's economic development has been neglected in favor of the richer and more powerful coastal region.
"The BJP, which is the frontrunner in the national election race, voted in favor of the bill, allowing it to pass. It still needs approval in the upper house by Friday, when parliament's final session before the election ends," according to the Guardian. "Such was the mood on Tuesday that roads leading up to parliament in the heart of Delhi were blocked and paramilitary troopers deployed."
Upon hearing the news of the bill, Telangana supporters celebrated on the streets.
"Apart from the emotional reasons for opposing the division of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad was also a bone of contention as it fell in the proposed new state carved out of the western part. India's sixth largest city, it is also one of its most prosperous and a big generator of revenue," the Guardian reported.
"A regional party that has been fighting for a separate state of Telangana would probably merge with Congress in the new entity. Congress may stand to benefit as it could gain parliamentary seats in Telangana in a show of gratitude for statehood."
"We do hope to get majority of the seats in Telangana," Digvijaya Singh, senior Congress leader in charge of Andhra Pradesh, told Reuters.
Congress's last-ditch efforts to pass a host of anti-graft bills before the government's term ends have been thwarted by protesting legislators, many from the party's own Andhra faction, the Guardian reported.
On Monday, the finance minister's interim budget speech could barely be heard above the din of angry protests against the creation of Telangana state.
