After Telangana decision, TDP looking for mid-term polls in Andhra
Hyderabad: The protests against the Centre's nod to initiate the process for formation of Telangana State still continue. The anti-Telangana activists stopped the Sabari Express at Guntur this morning. In another act of violence, a clash took
place between the police and the students at S K University in Anantpur. Rallies,
hunger strikes and other forms of protests and demonstrations are being held in
almost all the districts of the non-Telangana region, as they are opposing the
bifurcation of the state. The Joint Action Committee, a group spearheading the
campaign for a united Andhra, has said the shutdown would continue. Congress MLAs
from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema region marched to the Secretariat from the
Andhra Assembly to mark the death of Potti Sriramulu, who died in 1952 sitting
on a fast unto death demanding a separate Telegu state. Meanwhile, around fifty
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLAs belonging to the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema
region met Andhra Assembly Speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy and requested him to accept their resignations. It is speculated that this seems to be strategy of the TDP
to force bye-elections in the state. Earlier, cutting across party lines, 146
MLAs resigned in a 294-member Assembly refusing to accept the Centre's nod for
initiating the process of the formation of the Telangana State . Of these, 80
are from the Congress, 50 from the TDP and 16 from Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam
Party (PRP). A meeting of the Andhra cabinet is scheduled for today evening, where
the leaders will meet to discuss and solve the ongoing political crisis in the
state.
