Hyderabad, January 02: There is no respite in Andhra Pradesh from shutdowns and protests over the issue of statehood for Telangana as political parties and student groups have called for another shutdown in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema Monday.
Tpolitical he parties and student bodies met in Vijayawada Saturday and formed a Joint Action Committee (JAC) to oppose the division of the state.
The JAC, after deliberations, called for shutdown Jan 4 to protest the central government’s move to call an all-party meeting on the Telangana issue. Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram has called a meeting of eight parties in New Delhi Jan 5.
Leaders of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema also called for observing Jan 5 as a ‘black day’ and decided to stage road and rail blockades.
Thirteen districts of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions have seen a series of protests and shutdowns after the Dec 9 announcement by the central government to initiate the process for forming Telangana. This followed an 11-day agitation in Telangana and huger strike by Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao.
The protests in Andhra and Rayalseema ended Dec 23 when the central government made a second statement on the issue, saying there was need for wide-ranging consultations.
This, seen as a u-turn by pro-Telangana groups, triggered angry protests in Telangana, comprising 10 districts including Hyderabad.
In an attempt to mollify the pro-Telangana parties, the central government decided to immediately begin the process of consultation.
—IANS–