A resurrected Telangana Legislative Council Hall in Hyderabad awaits its D-Day

Telangana's historic Legislative Council to be reopened after renovation, marking a significant moment for the state's heritage.

On Sunday (March 9, 2026) morning, when Chief Minister Revanth Reddy enters the portals of the refurbished Telangana Council Hall for the first time after the formation of Telangana, he will be creating history. More than 11 years after the formation of the State , the Legislative Council members will debate, discuss and disagree in the same location where the legislative business of Hyderabad State was conducted when it was a princely kingdom.

Refurbished and resurrected after an 18-month effort by the State government and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), the exemplar of Indo-Saracenic structure looks like an alabaster gem from inside.

“Now it looks like a new building. Naturally, I am happy that I will be presiding over the Council in the august house,” says Chairman of Telangana Legislative Council Gutha Sukender Reddy. 

“The Assembly and Council hall were separate; it used to take ministers and officers some time to move from one legislative building to the other. Now that will no longer be the case. Between 2014 and 16, this was used as an Assembly building by the Andhra Pradesh government. Then it was abandoned for seven years. When a building is not in use it becomes decrepit. It had leakage from the roof, peeling plaster and seepage through the walls when the Chief Minister,  the Deputy Chief Minister, Speaker and I visited the Council,” recalls Mr. Sukender Reddy. “We thought that this heritage building should be brought back to its original use. We asked the Aga Khan Trust for Culture to take up the renovation and conservation and they have done a good job,” he says.

While the foundation stone was laid in 1905 by the then Nizam Mahabub Ali Khan for a Town Hall, the building eventually emerged as a legislative complex for the princely State. 

“The Hyderabad Legislative Council adjourned sine die today after passing one more Bill regarding the Census, enabling the Census Department to carry on its work. Amendments to the various existing acts were referred to select committees. The Bhageela (forced labour) Agreement Bill, moved by Mr. Ghulam Mahmood Qureishi, to afford greater facilities to the labourers and regulate their working hours and wages, was referred ‘to a Select Committee”, The Hindu reported on December 23, 1940 about the proceedings. After the formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1956, it began functioning as the Assembly building.