Hyderabad,October 04 :As the indefinite strike by all sections of Telangana people completed three weeks on Monday, with no signs of any decision by the Centre on the demand for a separate Telangana state, the border between Andhra and Telangana region in Nalgonda district looked like a battle zone. Angry Telangana agitators went on a rampage against private buses coming from Vijayawada to Hyderabad, shattering the glass-panes of more than 20 buses in heavy stone-pelting.
With the protest creating a massive traffic jam on the national highway 7 and the agitators stopping the buses for several hours, the police resorted to a lathicharge to disperse the crowd. In the stone-pelting, Circle Inspector of Police at Nakrekal Vishwa Prasad was injured. He was hit by a stone on his forehead.
The agitators stopped the buses at Nakrekal, Choutuppal and many other places. They were angry that when the Road Transport Corporation drivers were on strike and no buses were plying, the Andhra-based travel agencies were running their buses. After getting stuck at different places for several hours, the buses left for Hyderabad under tight police security.
Meanwhile, in yet another indication of growing frustration among the Telangana Congress leaders, party MLA from Ramagundam in Telangana S Satyanarayana has announced that he will be quitting the Assembly on Tuesday. After the resignation by a Minister, K Venkat Reddy and MLA Ch Lingaiah, he is the third Congress MLA to announce his resignation.
Satyanarayana said that not only he but several other Telangana Congress leaders were planning to resign as the Centre was not willing to take any decision quickly. “Unless we bring pressure, the Centre was not going to do anything”, he said.
Speculation was rife that Minister for Panchayati Raj and a senior leader from Telangana K Jana Reddy was also planning to resign from the Cabinet and Assembly.
Though the center is yet to decide on the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and rest of the state are already divided. Apart from the mental divide, agitators have stopped all communications between the two regions.
Holidays and festivals give lot of joy to people, particularly the children as they enjoy visiting places and moving about. This festival, the state is vertically divided into Seemandhra and Telangana even before the UPA government could take a decision on the bifurcation of the state.
People from Andhra region are fearing to visit their relatives in Telangana and vice versa. They fear that their buses might be stopped at some place and they could get stuck at nowhere. People from other states have also given up plans to visit their relatives in the state, because of the twoday rail-roko. Though the JAC has announced in advance that trains would once again be stopped for three days from 9th, people still view the agitators with suspicion and are unwilling to travel to Andhra for family visits.
The agitators may stop trains at will, the outsiders suspect. Business men however have to make their trips as they cannot cancel them. But holiday visits are mostly out this season. News in the morning states that several buses coming Hyderabad from the Andhra region were stopped at Telangana borders. Scores of buses operating from Andhra region have voluntarily stopped at Jaggaiahpet in Krishna district, seeking police protection to proceed into Telangana. People stayed stuck to their homes, afraid to move into each other’s region.