By IANS,
Hyderabad : There seems to be no end to the political turmoil, en masse resignations and agitations in Andhra Pradesh over the issue of a separate Telangana state.
After the centre made the latest statement Wednesday evening which is being seen as a “u-turn” on the issue of granting statehood, the scene of agitation shifted again to the backward region comprising Hyderabad and nine other districts.
It was on Nov 29 that the five-decade-old problem heated up when Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao was arrested by the police ahead of his fast unto death to achieve a Telangana state.
He continued his fast in jail and hospital for 11 days while Telangana was boiling with mass protests and violence. Rao’s deteriorating condition and the explosive situation in the region forced the centre to announce at midnight on Dec 9 that the process for forming a Telangana state would be initiated.
The next day saw en masse resignations by legislators from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions cutting across party lines to protest the centre’s move to bifurcate the state. Mass protests, shutdowns, hunger strikes, road and rail blockades began in 13 districts of the two regions from Dec 11 even as Telangana was celebrating Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s announcement.
Thirteen days of protests paralysed normal life and the government was forced to alter the statement. On the evening of Dec 23, Chidambaram made the latest statement stressing the need to hold wide ranging consultations over the issue in view of the altered situation in the state.
No sooner had Chidambaram finished his statement, protesters were on the streets in Hyderabad and the rest of Telangana – burning buses and government offices. Rising above political affiliations, MPs and legislators started submitting resignations. The 48-hour shutdown Thursday called by them has brought the focus back on the region even as protests ceased in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.