By IANS,
Hyderabad: Eleven of 12 MPs and as many as 80 legislators from volatile Telangana Thursday decided to quit to protest the central government’s move to put on hold the process of forming a separate state amid fears that unending street protests and violence could bring Andhra Pradesh under President’s Rule.
Thousands of paramilitary forces were headed to Andhra Pradesh as the scenes of mass demonstrations enveloped the Telangana region, Hyderabad included, after the central government appeared to backtrack on its earlier pledge to carve out 10 districts to form Telangana, a long-standing demand of its people.
IT Minister Komatireddy Venkata Reddy Thursday became the first Andhra Pradesh minister to resign in support of Telangana, saying he wanted to respect the sentiments of those who wanted to separate from the southern state.
Even as all political parties buried their differences in Telangana to insist that a separate state be formed, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao warned that the government’s failure to keep its earlier pledge would trigger a fire “which even the military will not be able to control”.
KCR, as he is known and whose hunger strike forced New Delhi to agree to break up Andhra Pradesh, appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not to drag the issue further and declare a Telangana state as early as possible.
Addressing a meeting of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) formed by all political parties and groups to fight for Telangana, KCR said: “Telangana has a history of sacrifices. The people of the region will not be afraid of laying down their lives.”
KCR has resigned from the Lok Sabha to press for his demand for Telangana.
Inspector General of Police A.R. Anuradha said the disturbances were “very large” during Thursday’s shutdown in Hyderabad and in the nine other districts of Telangana region.
Protesters, mainly emotionally-charged students, damaged 42 public and 78 private properties. Since Wednesday night, 18 buses were set on fire and 68 damaged. Trains were stopped at 12 places.
She described the situation in Osmania University, where students clashed with the police and roughed up Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders visiting the campus, as “very very volatile”.
“The students are not understanding the seriousness of the situation. For them it is a game but this is not a game. The situation can take any turn,” she told reporters.
The Telanaga fury triggered attacks on actors opposing the proposed state.
Dozens of men barged into the shooting area of Mahesh Babu’s film at Vikarabad in Ranga Reddy district, some 100 km from Hyderabad, and torched the sets and two vehicles. The actors and other artists ran for cover.
This was the third attack by pro-Telangana groups on film shootings in and around Hyderabad in as many days.
The Telugu film industry is dominated by the coastal Andhra region, where people are opposed to any splitting up of Andhra Pradesh. Naturally, some leading actors have opposed the formation of Telangana, leading to attacks on their movies and shootings.
According to Anuradha, a substantial number of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were on their way to Hyderabad and other parts of the state to maintain law and order. “I don’t want to give the numbers
as this will unnecessarily increase fear.”
There is increasing speculation that Andhra Pradesh might come under President’s Rule due to the constitutional crisis sparked by the resignations of legislators.
Congress MPs from Telangana, who met in New Delhi, decided to hand over their resignations to party president Sonia Gandhi.
Meanwhile, all the 80 legislators who have decided to quit came under the banner of the Joint Action Committee (JAC). They include 30 each from the ruling Congress and TDP. All 10 legislators of TRS have quit.
The Telangana region has 17 members in the Lok Sabha. There may be some respite in the situation tomorrow after Telangana leaders appealed for calm during Dec 25 to enable Christians to celebrate.