New Delhi:
Eight trainloads of people from Andhra Pradesh have arrived in Delhi to participate in protests against the division of the state to create Telangana after a bill to facilitate the new state was introduced in the middle of unprecedented violence in Parliament last week.
Three key metro stations have been shut till evening due to security concerns over protests in the most protected VIP zone in the heart of the city.
The YSR Congress of Jagan Mohan Reddy and government employees from Seemandhra, the non-Telangana region that is opposed to the state's bifurcation, will hold protests in different parts of the capital, hoping to stall the Telangana bill. Jagan Reddy has reportedly brought supporters in two trains.
Protesters on both sides of the Telangana divide have clashed in and outside Parliament.
Anticipating disruptions by protesting MPs when Finance Minister P Chidambaram presents his interim budget, the last before the national election, the Centre has taken unusual steps like preparing for an uninterrupted budget speech from a studio near the Lok Sabha.
Protests against Telangana led to some of the worst scenes ever witnessed in Indian Parliament with an expelled Congress MP, L Rajagopal, using pepper spray on his colleagues and other MPs yanking mics, and breaking a computer on Thursday. 16 MPs were suspended for the violence and a panel may decide on further action against these MPs. (
read)
The Centre has five days to pass the bill that will create India's 29th state. The ruling Congress hopes to reap electoral dividends from Telangana in the national election, due by May, but is facing opposition from its leaders in the residuary region, Seemandhra, which is worried about a smaller share of water, power and revenue from Telangana once the new state is created.
To push the proposal, the Congress needs the support of the BJP, which has refused to support any move to pass legislation in chaos, without a discussion.