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New Delhi/Hyderabad:
The deadlock over Telangana continued Wednesday as Congress
leaders returned from New Delhi without an assurance from the
central leadership while protests rocked the region on the second
day of a 48-hour shutdown.
Despite the resignation of 13 MPs and 100 legislators from the
region, the central government said it was not thinking of
imposing President's Rule in Andhra Pradesh.
"There is no move to impose President's Rule," Home Minister P.
Chidambaram said in New Delhi.
He said the central government had also not taken any final
decision on whether or not to give statehood to Telangana, saying
the "consultation process is still in progress".
Telangana leaders, who held four rounds of talks with the central
leadership since Tuesday, demanded that the process for formation
of a separate state be initiated with a fixed time frame and made
it clear that any delay would not be good for the party.
Claiming that their talks have not failed, state minister K. Jana
Reddy said in New Delhi that they were optimistic the central
government would initiate the process immediately by taking note
of their views.
Soon after his return to Hyderabad, Congress MP from Karimnagar
Ponnam Prabhakar lashed out at his own party describing it as
accused number one in Telangana and blamed it for the present
crisis.
Life remained paralysed across Telangana on the second day of the
48-hour shutdown called by the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC).
Public transport remained crippled in Hyderabad and nine other
districts of the region while shops, business establishments,
hotels, petrol bunks as well as educational institutions were shut
for a second straight day.
Coal production in Singareni Collieries was affected for the
second day as a majority of nearly 100,000 employees in the mines,
spread over four Telangana districts, refused to work.
The shutdown badly affected the work in government offices as a
majority of about 300,000 employees in the region stayed away from
work.
In courts, lawyers struck work. Even medical services in
government-run hospitals were hit as doctors attended only
emergency services.
However, buses of state-owned Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corp
returned to the roads in the evening as the authorities resumed
services between Hyderabad and other cities.
Telangana activists attacked the office of CPI-M in Bhongir town
in Naglonda district demanding resignation of its sole legislator
in support of a separate state.
In Hyderabad, police arrested JAC convenor M. Kodandaram and
dozens of leaders of TRS, BJP, CPI-ML New Democracy, unions of
government employees and student bodies.
Protestors were arrested when they tried to lay siege to the
residence of Union Petroleum Minister S. Jaipal Reddy demanding
his resignation.
Police said the leaders of various groups were arrested for
violating prohibitory orders.
Osmania University again turned into a battle zone as students
fought pitched battles with police, who fired rubber bullets, tear
gas and sound bombs.
One student was injured when police fired rubber bullets. Another
student was injured when a tear gas shell hit him.
A television reporter was injured in stone pelting by students.
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