Hyderabad:
Normal life in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh was disrupted today due to the two-day bandh called by the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) in support of their demand for a separate state.
Schools, colleges, shops and other commercial establishments are closed and public transport services are hit due to the bandh in all Telangana districts. There are prohibitory orders in place in parts of state capital Hyderabad, which is part of the Telangana region. (
Read: Bandh disrupts normal life in Telangana)
Seventy-two companies of central forces have been rushed to Andhra Pradesh, as asked by Chief Minister Kiran Reddy. But despite a cloak of security being thrown around the Osmania University campus - the epicentre of protests for a separate Telangana state - there are reports of confrontations between security personnel and students there.
For the people of Andhra Pradesh, it is deja vu. The state is on high alert with the two-day Telangana bandh call. And Telangana Rashtriya Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao has played the resignation card yet again.
(Read: Who is KCR?)The state does not just have the bandh on Tuesday and Wednesday to contend with. Student rallies have been announced for Thursday and rail blockades are planned on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, July 10, community kitchens will be set up on the roads in all Telangana districts.
KCR is backThe crisis is set to worsen, with the TRS striding in to declare war. For the umpteenth time, TRS chief KCR has resigned for Telangana. He faxed his resignation to the Lok Sabha Speaker late yesterday and is expected to meet her in a day or two. (Read: Who is KCR?)
Monday saw a spate of political resignations across parties, most visibly from Telangana Congressmen. Eleven MPs and 43 MLAs of the Congress, which rules both at the Centre and the state, resigned yesterday. This number includes 11 state ministers and Andhra Pradesh Textile Minister Shankar Rao joined their ranks early today. (Read: Congress in crisis mode: 11 of 15 ministers resign over Telangana)
The resignations of MPs will only hold good once accepted by the Lok Sabha Speaker, who is away and returns on Friday. And sources say the Speaker is unlikely to take a decision in a hurry on the matter and is examining their letters to decide if resignations were sent voluntarily.
But it's a sticky situation for the Congress. In the Lok Sabha, Andhra Pradesh contributes the maximum number of Congress MPs and the party can ill-afford such a crisis. The Congress leadership has asked its Telangana MPs and MLAs to be patient, but for now, that patience has run out.
They have, however, left a door open for the party to convince them with some action on the Telangana front and are meeting senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad at his New Delhi residence right now.
In late 2009, it was KCR's hunger strike that sparked 11 days of violent, burning protests across the region, many of which saw students taking on the police, before the Centre gave in and announced that the process for forming a new Telangana state would begin. Parties in Andhra Pradesh, however, were whiplashed by leaders from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema - who said they would not allow the bifurcation of the state. And so the Centre tried to rollback its misguided announcement.
KCR had largely kept a low profile since the Srikrishna Committee submitted its report as part of the Central initiative, but has now told party leaders to intensify the Telangana movement.
Yesterday, in the latest in a series of incendiary speeches, he warned publically, "Buses and trains will not move...Telangana will be like a furnace from tomorrow (Tuesday). I appeal to the Prime Minister to take immediate steps for formation of separate statehood."
(Read: Telangana will turn into a furnace, warns KCR)The math for the Congress
As Telangana starts to coil with political tension, the union government finds itself on disconcertingly familiar territory in Andhra Pradesh. It is a political necessity that has the Congress leaders from the volatile region ganging up to rebel. Voters in Telangana are getting restless with the Centre's indecision about its statehood; and they are all too aware that KCR's reinvigorated campaign could sway voters into accepting him as the face of their cause.
The Congress' keenness on extensive discussions with its partymen from Telangana is based largely on formidable math for its government in Andhra Pradesh. 43 Congress MLAs have quit, including 11 ministers. Out of 294 seats in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, the Congress currently has 168 seats with the support of its ally, Chiranjeevi's Prajya Rajyam Party (PRP). But if 36 disgruntled MLAs switch sides, the government starts sliding below the half-way mark of 147.
(Read: Congress in crisis mode: 11 of 15 ministers resign over Telangana)33 members of Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) who are members of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly have also resigned.
Political analysts say that if the bulk resignations do transpire, President's Rule may have to be considered for Andhra Pradesh.