Telangana issue disrupts Parliament proceedings

The demand for a separate Telangana state disrupted Parliament proceedings on Thursday, with the Lok Sabha failing to transact any business.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned six times before being adjourned for the day.

The Rajya Sabha failed to take up Question Hour as the House was adjourned twice over the issue till Zero Hour.

As soon as the Lok Sabha met for the day, TRS members K Chandrashekar Rao and M Vijayashanti trooped into the well of the house in support of their demand. They were supported by BJP members.

A section of Congress members too were seen in the aisle raising slogans for the formation of a separate Telangana state.

With the TRS members remaining adamant and squatting repeatedly in the well, the Lok Sabha witnessed repeated disruptions and adjournments.

The Rajya Sabha also witnessed similar scenes.

When the House met, the BJP members, including M. Venkaiah Naidu were on their feet seeking to know from the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, who was present in the House, the status of creation of a separate Telangana state.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Mohammad Hamid Ansari asked members to raise the issue during Zero Hour, but this did not satisfy BJP members who trooped into the well of the House, forcing an adjournments.

Several Telangana-related protests and shutdowns have brought Andhra Pradesh to a standstill.

The Central Government has appointed a judicial commission headed by former Supreme Court Justice Srikrishna to look into issue.

The report, submitted to Chidambaram in December last year, has suggested at least six options, including maintaining the status quo in the state or bifurcating the state.

Dave Lindahl

Telangana News at a glance

Telangana activists stage dharnas.

Population-More than 3 crore Area 1,14,800 sq km. Rivers-Godavari, Krishna, Manjeera, Pranahita Literacy-69.49 % Number of Districts -10 - Hyderabad, RangaReddy, Medak, Karimnagar, Warangla, Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar, Nizamabad, Adilabad, Khammam. Economy - Primarily agriculture - much of the land is arid, not as fertile as the agriculturally rich coastal region.

Dams - Nizam Sagar, Jurala project in Mahbubnagar, Nagarjuna Sagar.

Crops are wheat, jowar cotton, groundnut, maize, sugarcane, Sunflower. Cottage industries like beedi making, handlooms, crafts.

Major industries - Many of industry located in and around Hyderabad barring some heavy weights like Coal - Singareni Collieries Company limited (SCCL). Sugar factories at Bhodan, paper industry at Sirpur kagaznagar and ITC Bhadrachalam, Ramagundam Super Thermal Power Plant (NTPC), Kothgudem Thermal Power plant.

Private industry - in last 15 years, Hyderabad emerged as IT, BT and Pharma hub of India. Reddy Labs, Indian Immunologicals, Aurobindo, Satyam, Wipro, TCS, Cognizant are here. Google India is here, Facebook is coming up. Tata setting up their Aero SEZ.

Public Sector Units and Research Establishments concentrated in Hyderabad -Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Misra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI), Nuclear Fuel complex (NFC), Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals limited-IDPL, Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Bharat Dynamics limited (BDL), NRSA, National Institute of Nutrition, NGRI, CCMB.

Major educational institutions - Osmania, JNTU, Kakatiya, IIT Medak, BITS, IIIT, Hyderabad Central University (formed after 1960 agitation), NIT Warangal, ISB.

Responding to a call given by Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC), pro-Telangana activists have staged dharnas at revenue division and tahsildar offices across Warangal district today demanding introduction of a bill on separate Telangana in the Parliament. Telangana activists led by KU teachers JAC convener Papi Reddy, Warangal West MLA D Vinay Bhaskar, TRS district convener P Sudarshan Reddy took out a rally from Kakatiya University to the RDO office in Warangal. Teachers and staff of KU too participated in it.

Speaking on the occasion, Papiredy said people in the region have no faith in Srikrishna’s report that would be made public tomorrow.

“The UPA Government should respect the aspirations of people in the region and introduce a bill on Telangana in the Parliament. Suppressing agitations will not drown the the sentiment of people,” he said.

MLA Vinay Bhaskar demanded withdrawal of additional forces from the region.

Meanwhile, KU students tried to besiege TDP senior leader and MLA Errabelli Dayakar Rao’s residence but their attempt was thwarted by police. Cops arrested the students and released them later.

Telangana MPs call off strike

Andhra govt to drop Telangana-related cases.

Andhra Pradesh government is likely to drop all cases filed against the students involved in the Telangana agitation.

The Kiran Kumar Reddy government is planning to withdraw all cases filed against protestors during Telangana agitation following pressure from it own MPs and MLAs on the issue.

Andhra Home Minister P Sabita Indira Reddy said that the state government had in principal agreed to withdraw all cases against the students. The state government had on Monday withdrawn 135 cases registered against the students in addition to nearly 600 cases withdrawn earlier.

Eleven Congress MPs from Telangana region are on fast for the second day on Tuesday demanding the withdrawal of police cases against students involved in the agitation.

The fasting MPs said that they would break their fast and call off their protest following the state government's assurance on withdrawing all cases.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrashekhar Rao visited the fasting congress MPs on Tuesday in Hyderabad to express his support.

"We are all brothers and you have seen today, across party lines people are coming together to demand Telangana. In future also we be will working together. We are again demanding the cases to be withdrawn. Our common goal is Telangana. It's up to TDP (Telugu Desam Party) if they want to come together," said Rao after meeting Congress MPs on fast.

Senior Andhra Congress leader Keshav Rao said that his party never opposed a separate Telangana state

"Congress was never opposed to a separate state. So we always had a common goal. This is not a political posturing. We are looking at a common Telangana soon," said the Congress leader.

In all, 1667 cases were registered against more than 8,400 persons in connection with the statehood agitation in all the three regions of the state between December 2009 and September 2010.

The Justice Srikrishna Committee report on the formation of a separate state of Telangana is expected on December 31 and given the timing of the fast by Congress MPs and MLAs, observers are calling it a strategy by the ruling party to gain ground in the competitive politics of Telangana issue.