Seemandhra has turned into a simmering volcano as fury and resentment erupted all over the region against the bifurcation of the state, while celebrations and festivities swept the Telangana region over the demand for a separate state becoming a reality after six decades of struggle.
Terming it as a betrayal of the people’s sentiment in the region by the Congress High Command, the people of the region expressed their anger and anguish by observing a bandh on Wednesday.
What is more in a shocking repeat of the T-type protest, a student committed suicide in Guntur by leaping to death from a high-rise building, while in Ananthapur another student tried to immolate himself by dousing himself with petrol after climbing on a cell tower. The police rushed to the spot and foiled the attempt of the student.
As a matter of fact the volatile Ananthapur town turned virtually into a cauldron with the students going on a rampage and clashing with the police. The students stoned and damaged the statue of Rajiv Gandhi and even set fire to the statue of Indira Gandhi. The police resorted to a lathi-charge resulting injuries to many students.
Condemning the “unilateral decision” of the Congress High Command in conceding the demand for a separate Telangana state by deciding to go ahead with bifurcation of the state, the students JAC of Seemandhra gave a call for bandh in the region and also chalked out a series of agitation programmes to achieve their goal of preventing the state from being divided.
In response to the bandh call, shops, business establishments and other commercial houses including cinema theatres voluntarily closed and participated in the rallies, dharnas etc. The RTC buses in various depots in all the districts of the region did not move out as the staff refused to operate the services. With the buses off the roads, including the inter state and inter district services, passengers were stranded at various bus depots in the region.
Though the educational institutions declared a holiday, the students including a large number girls, took to the streets and organized rasta roko and formed human chains in various towns in the districts. The students also prevented the plying of long distance buses and also auto-rickshaws.
The Students JAC also announced that besides staging dharnas before the houses of ministers and , MPs and MLAs, they would also persuade them to submit their resignations forthwith. Accordingly the integrationists staged dharnas before the residences of Congress and TDP leaders in various districts. Yielding to the demand of the students, the TDP MLA from Hindupur Abdul Ghani submitted his resignation.
The residence of Union Minister for Textiles K.Sambasiva Rao in Eluru of West Godavari district also became the target of attack by the agitators who sat on dharna and raised slogans demanding his resignation. The workers of the jute mill in the town boycotted their duties and joined the protest rallies. In Kadapa the workers of the thermal power project also walked from their duties.
Even as the people in the Seemandhra have taken to the streets protesting against bifurcation of the state, the ministers from the region had called on Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy at the camp office and deliberated about their future course action. They seem to have made it clear to the Chief Minister about resigning but were advised not to take any drastic action at this stage.
In yet another development the Congress leaders from Rayalaseema held a separate meeting at the ministers quarters in Jubilee Hills and discussed ways and means of highlighting the demand for a separate Greater Rayalasema State. The meeting also seem to have deliberated whether the leaders from other political parties from Rayalaseema should be approached for their support in this regard.
————————(NSS)