RIOT RAJ - TELANGANA, NO BANDH TODAY, EXTRA FORCES RUSHED, MLAs/MPs/MINISTERS REGISN

There was a wave of violence on Thursday, attacking public and private property with scant regard for the rule of law. MPs and MLAs were doing their bit to add to the mayhem that has hit the comman man the hardest. While 68 of the 119 MLAs across all major parties discovered a unifying force in the dividing agenda and announced their resignations in Hyderabad, 11 Congress MPs in New Delhi faxed their resignations too to party chief Sonia Gandhi to protest the Centres new statement. Of the 68 MLAs, 29 are from the TDP, 25 from Congress, 10 from TRS and two each from the BJP and PRP.

While the TRS men were disrupting rail and road services and smashing windowpanes, leaders from the region were forming a joint action committee (JAC) under the aegis of TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, a man who till recently was staring at a political black hole following the drubbing in the last elections. But his fortune seems to have changed fast. A belligerent KCR was dictating terms to the Prime Minister of India on Thursday at the meeting: Do not dilly-dally any further. Do not beat up students. Rising above party lines we have formed the JAC and will not rest till a separate state is formed. The JAC is scheduled to meet again on Friday to plan the next round of action. It was for the first time since the disastrous 1969 agitation that all the political parties were coming together. However, some TDP MLAs did not participate in Thursdays JAC meet as they were still debating which horse to back: Join in or fight independently.

In Osmania University (OU) as students fought pitched battles with police, KCR threatened to march to the campus. But he relented after Hyderabad police commissioner B Prasada Rao pointed out that the cops had no intention of entering the campus and were only preventing students from taking to the streets and destroying public property. Elsewhere in Hyderabad, private buses were attacked and violence was reported from Dilsukhnagar, Kukatpally and LB Nagar, where miscreats resorted to throwing stones. Since Wednesday night, 57 RTC buses and 11 private buses were damaged and 12 buses burnt. RTC buses stayed off the road on Thursday because of the bandh which saw most shops and educational institutions shut.

In the districts, goons damaged scores of private vehicles, government offices and blocked roads and railway tracks. A hydel plant in Warangal district was attacked by protesters in the belief that it was owned by Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. TRS workers also staged protests outside the residences of some elected representatives of different parties as they did not announce their resignations. Although the TRS has called off the bandh on Friday in view of Christmas, not many shops are likely to open as the situation remained tense.

TELANGANA GETS ITS OWN WALL OF DIVIDE

Its no match to the Berlin Wall, since demolished, but those bent on dividing the state on Thursday built a wall of their own on the Pondugula-Vadapalli bridge on river Krishna, cutting the road link from the area to the coastal region. While over 600 of them had squatted on the road in the morning, some others arrived with a truckload of cement bricks and began constructing the wall on Nalgonda district border. Amid Jai Telangana slogan-shouting , the workers went about constructing the 3-ft high wall on the bridge and bringing vehicular movement to a halt. Till the time of going to the press, vehicles were stranded up to 10 km on both sides of the road. 

TDP MLA THRASHED FOR SUPPORT

The OU students on Thursday turned their ire against TDP leaders who came to the campus to support them. The worst hit was TDP MLA Nagam Janardhan Reddy who was dragged out of his vehicle and beaten for over 10 minutes near the Arts College, till a bystander came to his rescue and took him to safety on a bike. TDP leader Devender Goud, was also roughed up but he managed to escape. Other TDP leaders, Errabelli Dayakar Rao, R Revanth Reddy and Kadiyam Srihari left unharmed. The students even broke the windshields of vehicles, including media vans, tore the seats and strew the official documents which were found inside the cars even as the police maintained a distance from them.
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ANOTHER SRC? Govt floats a trial balloon
Centre Tries To Find A Way Out As Demands For States Rise

The Centre on Thursday hinted at setting up a second States Reorganisation Commission to settle the plethora of demands for new states. Though coming from top sources in the form of loud thinking the option of second SRC may be a trial balloon to test waters it may still inflame the passions in Telangana given the scepticism after the second statement issued by home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday. The low acceptability of SRC among Telangana proponents was evident when it evoked a firm rebuff from Congress MPs from the region on Thursday. They were lobbying the Congress leadership that Wednesdays statement should not in any way go back on the commitment made in the December 9 statement.

The option of second SRC is aimed to examine the viability of pending demands for statehood, which received a renewed push after Centres announcement on December 9 to initiate the process of creating Telangana. Sources in the government said the second states panel after independence could explore these demands in detail and could be asked to give its recommendations within a time-frame . Its terms of reference could be decided by a group of ministers. Sources said the option, which was at a nascent stage, was to soothe the frayed nerves against bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. The idea of SRC seems the only way out to settle the myriad demands for new states coming from different corners from Gorkhaland to Vidarbha and UP. If the 2nd SRC is finally constituted, it would mark another step in the direction of redrawing the political map of India after the submission of the first SRC report in 1955. The report had led to the formation of the southern states on the basis of language while Gujarat was carved out from Maharashtra.

Sources said if 2nd SRC was set up, it would be expected to look thoroughly into the legitimacy of demands for new states like Vidarbha, Gorkhaland, Telangana, Harit Pradesh, Bundelkhand and others. That it may be an attempt to buy time on Andhra Pradeshs division is not ruled out. Referring to the current crisis in AP when protests erupted in Rayalaseema and Coastal regions against the December 9 announcement of home minister P Chidambaram , a senior official indicated that the Centre would look to buy time on the issue which has a tendency to become an emotive one with consequences for law and order.

If such an authority is set up, the process may be time consuming as pleas and counter-pleas of various groups which either oppose or favour a separate state are to be heard. Besides, the members of SRC would visit each of the region whose demands would be taken up for consideration, the official said. The delay would help lower the temperature in AP politics.

Meanwhile, the home ministry on Thursday rushed 1,150 additional paramilitary personnel to Andhra Pradesh in the wake of the 48-hour bandh called by the TRS in Telangana region. Ten companies of the CRPF were airlifted from Delhi as well as from Jalandhar and Chandigarh to be sent to Hyderabad, a senior official said. With this, the total strength of central forces in the state will increase from 28 companies to 38 companies, comprising about 4,000 men.
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MLAs, corporators under pressure to quit

Many elected representatives from the city are under pressure to quit their posts for expressing support for the separate Telangana movement. Of the 24 MLAs from Greater Hyderabad, only three MLAs have resigned so far. Many MLAs are in a dilemma whether to submit their resignations or not as there are many settlers--both from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions--in their constituencies. TRS workers staged dharnas and attacked houses of some MLAs demanding their resignation for the cause of Telangana. The three MLAs who gave their resignations include P Vishnuvardhan Reddy (Jubilee Hills), T Prakash Goud (Rajendranagar ) and P Nandishwar Goud (Patancheru).

Telangana protagonists also staged a dharna in front of the house of LB Nagar legislator D Sudheer Reddy demanding he quit his post at Moosarambagh. There was a scuffle between the TRS workers and Sudheer Reddy's supporters. Sudheer Reddy said he would abide by the decision of the Congress high command on the creation of separate Telangana. At Uppal, Telangana supporters staged a dharna in front of MLA B Raji Reddy and damaged furniture on the premises. Later, Raji Reddy came out of his house and said he was planning to resign.

TRS party workers staged protests in front of Sanatnagar MLA Marri Shashidhar Reddy's in Tarnaka. The Sanathnagar MLA called the protesters and explained to them that as he was a member of the Disaster Management Committee headed by the Prime Minister he cannot resign. "I told them (protesters) that I will abide by the decision of Congress high command. I don't require any certificate for my commitment for Telangana as I raised several issues pertaining to the region like Pothireddypadu in the assembly," Shashidhar Reddy told TOI.

Ministers Danam Nagender and M Mukesh Goud, who represent Khairatabad and Goshamahal assembly segments, claimed, being ministers, they cannot resign . They said Coastal and Rayalaseema ministers did not resign when the MLAs of those regions submitted their resignations.

Meanwhile, Telangana activists staged a dharna near Greater Hyderabad municipal corporation (GHMC) mayor Banda Karthika Reddy to resign from the post. Karthika Reddy was elected as mayor on December 4 and took charge on December 10. Students and TRS workers also demanded resignations of all the corporators from the city. TDP leader and former MLA Talasani Srinivas Yadav's house at West Marredpally and his farm house at Kollur were attacked by TRS workers for his support for united Andhra.

Some MLAs like A Rajender of Malkajgiri , Bikshapathi Yadav of Serilingampally and K Srisailam Goud of Qutubullapur are under pressure to resign as legislator to mount pressure on the Centre to begin the process of creation of separate Telangana state. But the MLAs are in a dilemma as there are several pockets in their constituencies where large number of settlers reside. "We hope our party (Congress) high command will soon give clarity on the statement made by Union home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday. If the situation warrants, we will also resign," an MLA said.
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68 MLAs, minister quit

Under pressure from their constituents and fellow legislators, information technology minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy became the first casualty of the present Telangana crisis after he sent in his resignation to speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy and faxed his intention to quit the cabinet to the chief minister on Thursday. With this the total number of resignations by Telangana MLAs has gone up to 68, including 29 from TDP, 25 from Congress, 10 from TRS and two each PRP and BJP. There are 119 MLAs from the region. Though the minister did not specify any reasons for quitting, he is learnt to have been deeply hurt by the statement read out by Union home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday. The fresh statement lacks clarity and does not mention any time-frame needed to form Telangana state, the Nalgonda legislator is learnt to have said. The two major parties Congress and TDP have 52 and 39 MLAs respectively in Telangana.

Earlier, the Telangana ministers interacted with PCC president D Srinivas and asked him to convey their feelings to the high command and also told him about the pressure from people in Telangana region . Ministers J Geeta Reddy, Danam Nagender and D K Aruna told the media that they would wait for a clarification from New Delhi on the statement made by the Union home minister. We need clarity on the fresh statement made by the Centre. This has resulted in serious confusion not only in the party, but also in Telangana, Geeta Reddy said.

On the contrary, government chief whip Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka at a separate press conference appealed to Congress MLAs to read Chidambarams statement afresh. He said the statement was selfexplanatory and nobody needed to have any doubts on the Centres intention to go slow on the process of the formation of Telangana state.

Though Congress leader R Damodar Reddy claimed that all Telangana Congress legislators would resign, a majority of those representing in the GHMC area failed to respond to their call till last reports came in. Meanwhile, 25 Congress MLAs and MLCs from coastal and Rayalaseema areas who had tendered their resignations in protest against the bifurcation of the state withdrew their resignations on Thursday .

11 Congress MPs follow suit

Eleven Congress Telangana Lok Sabha members resigned on Thursday in line with their assembly colleagues in the state. They faxed their resignation letters to party president Sonia Gandhi and handed over the sealed covers containing the letters in the office of the party president. However, Union urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy did not resign. Later, they met Sonias political secretary Ahmed Patel and conveyed the apprehensions of Telangana people following Union home minister P Chidambarams second statement on the separate stathood issue. We have conveyed to Patel the apprehension among the people that by opening consultations on the issue, the Centre has indirectly postponed the formation of Telangana state. We urged the leadership to clarify the stand, Ponnam Prabhakar, convenor of the AP Congress MPs forum told TOI.

He said that they were satisfied with the meeting and hopeful that the process of formation of Telangana would be set in motion soon, senior MP Manda Jagannatham said. Nizambad MP Madhu Yaski, however, admitted that there was some ambiguity in the home ministers second statement which stressed the need for consultations. We are hopeful that the Centre works towards allaying the fears of Telangana people about the second statement, Yaski said.

Those who resigned on Thursday included Madhu Yaski, Ponnam Prabhakar, Manda Jagannatham, Gutta Sukhender Reddy, Sarve Satyanarayana, Suresh Shetkar, S Rajaiah, K Rajagopal Reddy, P Balaram, G Vivekanand and M Anjan Kumar Yadav. Prabhakar said they were not forcing the Rajya Sabha members to follow suit. TNN
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JAC leaders vow to fight till Telangana state is achieved

A joint action committee of all major political parties and mass organisations on Thursday asked the Union government to make clear its stand on Telangana without resorting to delaying tactics in the name of consultations . Infuriated at home minister P Chidambarams statement that wide ranging consultations will be held before a decision on Telangana is taken, leaders of Telangana Rashtra Samiti, Congress, Telugu Desam, Bharatiya Janata Party, Telangana Vimochana Samiti, Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti and many others belonging to teachers, students, women, lawyers and intellectuals have formed the Telangana joint action committee (JAC) to oppose what they called the delaying tactics of the Union government .

It is for the first time after the 1969 Telangana movement, when a joint action forum Telangana Praja Samiti was formed, that leaders cutting across party lines have again joined hands to run a united campaign for Telangana state. Noted political science professor from Osmania university, N Kodanda Ram was appointed convenor of the JAC. Speaking on the occasion, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao said no dilly dallying or delaying tactic would be tolerated in the formation of separate Telangana state in the name of consultations . The consultation process is over. The only thing left now is to initiate the process of state formation.

KCR urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not to dilly-dally on the issue and further and prevent bloodshed. I have given you all the literature on Telangana . I have cleared all your doubts. Still, your government wants consultations. Where is the need for consultation when all the parties have already conveyed their consent in writing to Pranab Mukherjee, he said. He urged the PM not to allow police to beat the students. Do not allow the police forces to enter university campuses in Telangana. Withdraw all the forces already entered the campuses, he told Manmohan Singh.

The TRS chief also urged Union home minister P Chidambaram to revoke all the cases booked against the students and youth as promised on December 9. Taking serious objection to Chidambarams U-turn on Telangana, KCR declared that the fight would go on till the T state was achieved but apprehended that goondas from Rayalaseema might sneak into the movement to create trouble. All the MLAs from Telangana not only submit the resignations but also press for the acceptance. This is the end of Rosaiah government in the state, he said.

The speakers in the meeting, senior Congress leader G Venkataswamy, veteran leader Ch Rajeswara Rao, Telangana ideologue Prof K Jaisankar, former speaker K R Suresh Reddy, noted Urdu daily editor, Zahed Ali Khan, TDP MLA L Ramana, Congress legislators K Jana Reddy, R Damodar Reddy, BJP leader Ch Vidyasagar Rao, PRP MLA Y Anil Kumar, Sandhya from progressive womans organisation, B Prakash, leader Telangana Vimochana Samiti, B Mohan Reddy MLC, former MP D Ravindra Naik all expressed their disapproval of the home ministers reference to consultations in the strongest words. They demanded that he stick to his December 9 statement. No further consultation. The question is yes or no to Telangana. If the answer is no, we know how to achieve it, they thundered.

The meeting, attended by hundreds of activists, took a pledge to continue the fight for Telangana with a single minded objective of achieving statehood for the region unitedly forgetting the ideological differences of their respective parties.
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(SOURCE - TOI)