I have been able to successfully do what I intended to do using a combination of the above two answers and some more hit and trial of my own. I will experiment a bit more and post the detailed method to do so here.

OKAY..just for clarity...here is what I do:

1. Attache HDMI cable

2. Go to display settings and uncheck the mirror display checkbox

3. Run Detect Displays if needed

4. Now whatever workspace I use, it i split into two vertically. Moving any application past the right border of the laptop screen takes it to the HDMI TV screen.

Let me know if the above does not work for someone and I can help.