Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy during his dharna at Jantar Mantar
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy sat on a 'dharna' at Jantar Mantar in the heart of the capital today, in protest against the move to bifurcate his state to create a new Telangana state.
With him were some of his ministers, other state leaders from the Seemandhra region and central cabinet ministers like Pallam Raju, Chiranjeevi, Purandeshwari and J D Seelam.
Later in the evening, Mr Reddy met President Pranab Mukherjee to explain why he believes Andhra Pradesh must not be split. YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy too is expected to meet the President later in the day.
Supporters from both sides of the political debate clashed this morning at the Andhra Bhawan, a short while before Mr Reddy stepped out to leave in a bus for his protest.
(Telangana and Seemandhra supporters clash in Andhra Bhawan in Delhi)Political workers climbed over barricades and raised slogans of 'Jai Telangana' and 'Jai Samaikandhra' as security forces struggled to keep the situation under control. Cops had a tough time keeping Telangana supporters away as the Chief Minister boarded the bus.
In Parliament, which met today for its final session before the national election, both houses witnessed angry, loud and persistent disruptions over Telangana. Law-makers from different parties have vowed of repeat protests against the government's decision to split Andhra Pradesh and turn the region of Telangana into India's 29th state.
(Parliament's last session begins with sparring over Telangana)The union cabinet will meet on Thursday to review the controversial proposal and once it approves it, the bill will be sent to the President and then brought to Parliament for a debate and vote. The Congress' central leadership wants Parliament to do in this session so that it can make electoral gains in Telangana in the national election.
But state leaders from the Congress, including the Chief Minister, want the opposite. They say that unless Andhra Pradesh goes to the polls undivided, they will be punished by voters. Last week, the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, led by Kiran Reddy, rejected the Telangana Bill causing considerable embarrassment to his party, the Congress, which also rules at the Centre.
For the Telangana plan to be cleared by parliament, the main opposition party, the BJP, must back it. "The chief minister himself is openly opposing his party. We are in support of Telangana," said the party's Ravi Shankar Prasad but added that the concerns of people from Seemandhra must be addressed.