Reacting to the Centre’s announcement of discussing the Telangana issue further, 70 legislators cutting across party lines on Thursday decided to resign in protest against the government’s action.
The pro-Telangana activists, including politicians, academicians and artistes, also formed the Telangana Sadhana Joint Action Committee to fight for statehood.
At its first meeting here, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) founder K Chandrasekhara Rao (KCR) said, “Forty million people of the region are in favour of a separate Telangana. The Centre should stick to its December 9 statement of initiating the process for formation of the separate state. We are not afraid of more sacrifices.”
KCR appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take steps for creation of Telangana. “Enough reasons and literature have been given to the Centre over the past many years for taking a decision in favour of Telangana. The movement has been garnering support from NRIs and students too. A separate state is a legitimate right of the people of this region,” he said.
He asked the Prime Minister to direct chief minister K Rosaiah to withdraw all the cases against students.
KCR, who is a Lok Sabha member from Mahabubnagar, sent his resignation letter late night yesterday to Speaker Meira Kumar.
Among the MLAs who decided to resign, 10 are from TRS, 26 from the Congress including one minister, 30 from Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and 2 each from Praja Rajyam Party and Bharatiya Janata Party. In all, the Telangana region has 119 MLAs in the 294 Andhra Pradesh Assembly.
Earlier in the day, TDP MLAs from the Telangana region met at their legislative party office and decided to join the voice for a separate state. Adilabad MP Ramesh Rathod and five MLCs of the party too decided to quit. TDP legislator N Janardhan Reddy said the Congress diluted its earlier promise of granting statehood to Telangana.
On the other hand, Cabinet ministers from Telangana, who met Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president D Srinivas in the morning, said there should have been more clarity in home minister P Chidambaram’s latest statement on the statehood issue.
The ministers met Rosaiah to express their desire to quit. However, the chief minister asked them to hold back their decision and help in restoring peace.
State information minister J Geeta Reddy and health minister Danam Nagender later told the media that they would meet Sonia Gandhi to seek a clarity on the issue.
Meanwhile, the day was marred by violence in Hyderabad and across the Telangana region. Slogan-shouting students held a rally at Osmania University (OU), the epicentre of pro-Telangana agitations. Tense situation prevailed on the campus after students clashed with the police. A group of students launched hunger strike protesting against Chidambaram’s statement.
The agitating students also attacked and damaged the cars of TDP legislator Nagam Janardhan Reddy and others who visited the OU campus to their express solidarity. Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) buses and private vehicles were damaged at several places.
To keep the situation under check, the state government has imposed prohibitory orders banning rallies and processions in and around the university and in the city till January 1.
Condemning the attack on its legislators, TDP leader T Devender Goud said there was a need for unity among the members fighting for statehood to Telangana. He reiterated that TDP was part of the JAC and was fighting for a separate Telangana.
Inspector general and police spokesperson AR Anuradha said 436 people had been arrested.
“There were 329 agitations across the Telangana region with 88 rasta rokos and 11 rail rokos. As many as 57 APSRTC buses and 11 private buses had been set ablaze or damaged since yesterday night till noon today. The agitations also caused damage to 78 private and 42 public properties. There were incidents of vandalism in Adilabad district,” she said.
The TRS has, however, called off its 48-hour bandh in view of Christmas tomorrow.
