Telangana Association of Greater San Antonio (hereby called as TAGSA) has been established in the early months of 2014 but the idea was being discussed for many years before that.
On 09-Dec-2009, the Government of India announced the process of formation of the Telangana state. Extreme influence by interested politicians & others, violent protests led by people in the Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema regions occurred immediately after the announcement, and the decision was put on hold on 23 December 2009.
On 10-Jan-2010, a group of 10 people met informally in the local coffee shop and the idea of starting a Telangana organization in San Antonio gave birth. A formal meeting was organized in one of the local Indian restaurants and the idea was discussed at length. After long deliberations, the group decided to open a local chapter for nationally recognized Telangana Development Forum. TDF-San Antonio chapter consisted of Vinay Basani (President), Vijay Bhasker Sureddy (Vice-President), Raghuveer Reddy Chintapalli (Secretary), Mohan Penta (Joint Secretary), Jagdeesh Gurrala (Treasurer), Srinivas Konda (Cultural Secretary); Manohar Gayyi, Madan Puli, Vijay Gunuganti, Ram Joolukunktla, Pandu Kadire as other Executive Committee Members.
TDF San Antonio chapter has been very active since it’s inception, successfully conducted Bathukkamma festival and Telangana Picnic in years 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
On 30 July 2013, the Congress Working Committee unanimously passed a resolution to recommend the formation of a separate Telangana state. After various stages, the bill was placed in the Parliament in February 2014. In February 2014, Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 bill was passed by the Parliament of India for the formation of Telangana state comprising ten districts from north-western Andhra Pradesh.
The state of Telangana was officially formed on 2 June 2014. Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao was elected as the first chief minister of Telangana, following elections in which the Telangana Rashtra Samiti party secured a majority. Hyderabad will remain as the joint capital of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for a period of 10 years.
As soon as Telangana state became eminent, Telangana folks in San Antonio realized the need for a local chapter. TAGSA was formed in March 2014, carrying over most of the committee members from TDF-San Antonio. TAGSA consisted of Dr.Vijay Gunuganti (President), Srinivas Konda (Vice-President), Mohan Penta (Secretary) and Manohar Gayyi (as Treasurer) as Office Bearers. Rest of the executive committee included Vinay Basani, Jagdeesh Gurrala, Mallik Ganji, Sree Sangisetti, Panduranga Kadire, Sudhir Gogu, and Venu Kolanu.
Telangana Association of Greater San Antonio (TAGSA) 