Police arrested Lagadapati Rajagopal, a ruling party lawmaker from Vijayawada who was preparing to begin a high-profile hunger strike to protest the splitting of the state, in Hyderabad on Monday. NEW DELHI — The Indian state of Andhra Pradesh sank into a contentious political paralysis on Monday as local lawmakers adjourned indefinitely without addressing a controversial resolution to divide the state.
Elsewhere in India, demands for statehood have intensified in several regions as the issue has mushroomed into a nationwide political tempest for the governing Congress Party.
In Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, the State Assembly adjourned Monday morning after shouting broke out and supporters of maintaining a unified state began waving banners.
The authorities moved to prevent potential confrontation in the streets after hundreds of pro-unity protesters were blocked from entering the capital city on Sunday and placed in police custody. Officers also denied permission for their leader, a lawmaker, to enter Hyderabad and start a hunger strike.
For the Congress Party, inundated with criticism of its handling of the situation, the turmoil began this month. A regional politician, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, staged a 10-day hunger strike demanding that the Congress Party fulfill a past commitment to pursue statehood for the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh. Thousands of pro-Telangana students demonstrated as Mr. Rao’s health began to deteriorate.
Late last Wednesday, India’s home minister announced that the central government would initiate the legislative process of creating a Telangana State. Mr. Rao ended his fast.
The Telangana statehood movement has existed for decades. Advocates say the region is deprived of equitable shares of resources, jobs, educational opportunities and other benefits.
But the government’s decision spurred a backlash in other regions of Andhra Pradesh that has steadily escalated. Indian news outlets reported over the weekend that protesters set two railroad stations on fire. Meanwhile, 130 members of the State Assembly tendered their resignations, though none have yet been accepted. Many of the resignations were from members of the Congress Party, threatening its majority status in the state government. News reports also suggested that as many as 90 people had started their own hunger strikes to prevent partition.
At some point, the Assembly is supposed to vote on a resolution for Telangana statehood. Though the central government can create a new state under its own authority, the process had been expected to begin at the state level.
Dharmana Prasada Rao, the state’s revenue minister, said Andhra Pradesh was now sharply polarized: Residents of Telangana want statehood while most people elsewhere oppose any division.
“We hope the central government will resolve the issue,” he said, adding that despite the controversy, the government was functioning. “The issue is very sentimental and serious for the people. It has long-term consequences for both sides.”
Late Monday, a Congress Party spokesman told the Indian news media that the central government would take no action on the issue until the Assembly in Andhra Pradesh passed a resolution calling for Telangana statehood. The Telangana situation has revived other statehood movements, even as the country’s powerful finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee, has warned that only Telangana is on the table.
In the most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Mayawati has sent letters to the national government requesting that three new states be carved out of her state as well as a portion of the adjacent state of Madhya Pradesh. Her critics immediately accused her of opportunism and of trying to undermine the Congress Party to elevate her own Bahujan Samaj Party.
Farther east, in the state of West Bengal, advocates promoting a separate state for the Gorkhaland region have also been agitating. Advocates began a general strike in the region on Monday, and hunger strike campaigns are also under way.
Hari Kumar contributed reporting.
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My question…who cares, they KILLED a man RT
AP – Mexican prosecutors are reopening investigations into 21 deaths during 2006 protests against the Oaxaca state government, including the killing of an independent U.S. journalist.
A clarification on the motion to amend the rules; I was trying to amend the rules to exclude Jane Norton, specifically because she was not participating in the State Assembly process. I had spoken to the Chairwoman and the Rules Chairman Wayne Williams before the meeting started and explained what I wanted to do. I was told the issue needed to be addressed during the discussion portion of rules. Mr. Williams closed the rules with a voice vote without discussion, more to the point without even mentioning the word discussion. So, I was forced to make a motion to open the rules for discussion which was voted down. I believe that if I was able to articulate the point I was trying to make, which was that if Jane wasn't participating in the State Assembly process, she should NOT speak at the 5th Congressional Assembly. I think even though it [...]
HARIDWAR Uttarakhand INDIA has apropiate ilegaly,violently and in dictatorial manners, our Spanish N.G.O. land in Jagjetpur.HARIDWAR AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT MUST GIVE US OUR REGISTERED LAND PLUS DAMAGE CHARGES TO1200 little poor children
RT The ugly face of Indian news
LATEST INFOTAINMENT 4 U :Vasanth Kumar took charge as the tourism minister after he returned from New Delhi, where he met party president Sonia Gandhi and other leaders. Some other senior ministers, who were unhappy with Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy for allotting them "insignificant" portfolios, and had not assumed their charge also followed suit.Vasanth Kumar quit Dec 1 hours after he along with 38 other ministers was sworn in. He held the rural development portfolio in the earlier cabinet.Ponnala Lakshmaiah, who too was sulking after losing major irrigation portfolio, assumed office as minister for information technology. Botsa Satyanarayana, who had openly expressed unhappiness over getting the transport portfolio instead of panchayat raj, assumed office Tuesday. Dharmana Prasada Rao also took over as roads and buildings minister though he was unhappy over losing revenue department.These ministers, along with others, held a meeting Dec 2 and openly voiced their protest over [...]
Tulla Devender Goud –
No one in Australia gets killed under Police custody this frequently, if at all. And especially here in Adelaide, we have more minory groups than in most other Western cities.
ANDHRA PRADESH must be united & not be separated.
Muslim Forum for Telangana
H.No. 2-3-48/A/9, Amberpet, Hyderabad- 500013
Contact No’s: 9391051586, 9492063948, Fax: 27403392
Email id:
To,
The Chairman,
Committee for consultations on the situation in Andhra Pradesh. (CCSAP)
Respected Sir,
Subject: There is no meaning for silence when there is a need to
speak for Justice. Muslim Forum for Telangana demands
separate Telangana State.
Introduction:
People from different walks of life and organizations came together and had series of discussions since 2006 on Muslim role for separate Telangana state. Muslim and non Muslim intellectuals participated in these meetings. All of them discussed and expressed their opinions and also gave their valuable suggestions. The main outcome of the meetings was the formation of a forum to work towards making people aware, especially Muslims. This forum was formed and named as Muslim Forum for Telangana in the year 2008.
This forum consists of different right organizations, mass organizations, women organizations, [...]
the popes money is mannaged by jews in chicago, the jesuits were founded by a converso jew(lol)all the news media is owned by jews.If you go into this topic and no where the word jew is mentioned ,you can bank(lol) on it that it is just a misdirection,cover diversion,whatever you like to call it.most universities have jewish presidents,80% of the graduates from harvard in a recent year were jewish.look at obams cabinet, it is similar to all the preceeding ones mostly jewish,go see.
Both Congress, BJP sought BSPs support in 2004: Mayawati – Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party…
pakistanis… dont feel bad about this.. you are not aware of this… india is not stupid to hire people and make them kill people in mumbai.. you r just not aware… the entire world knew what was happening except pakistani's.. it is not india self inflected terrorrism becuase congress chief minister and home minister had to resign.. take this opportunity to understand why the world does not trust you.. its not you its your indiciplined army
Wow! This leads me both to say that Fact IS stranger than fiction, and that I heart India. And rumaanb is right, this is the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
o its indian news channel indian news indian ancor person o nothing 2 worry its india
Hipocracy! All of the news media is guilty of this, but you have to be a special type of retard to watch FOX and believe it.