JOIN USCongress MPs Madhu Yaski Goud and K Keshav Rao, who tried to join the march at Tank Bund, had to face the ire of the protesters. Both MPs were hooted and heckled by the pro-Telangana mobs comprising mostly Telengana Rastra Samiti workers.
Madhu Yaski was whisked away in a police vehicle when the agitators attacked him for not quiting the MP post for the sake of Telangana. Former Congress CWC member K Keshav Rao who tried to hog limelight by sitting atop his car was virtually dragged down and the wind screen of his car was damaged.
The agitators also targeted statues of social reformer Kandukuri Veereshalingam and Tripuraneni Ramaswamy Chowdhary set up on the Tank Bund and damaged several others, including that of Pingali Venkaiah, the designer of the National Flag.
A near-curfew atmosphere was created around Tank Bund—the three km long road along Hussain Sagar Lake linking the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The police had arrested many people across the Telangana region to prevent them from reaching Hyderabad.
Despite the innumerable barricades and approximately 12,000 police and para-military forces, hundreds of Telangana agitators succeeded in reaching Tank Bund by 1 pm, the time announced by the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC).
The agitators displayed heroics in reaching the cordoned off Tank Bund region. Kavitha, K Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter and convener of Telangana Jagriti, a cultural wing, staged a marathon run in front of secretariat.
A few arrested Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) legislators escaped from the police van in filmy style. TRS legislator T Harish Rao jumped from the police van on to a two-wheeler and later took a speed boat to reach the destination.
All the gateways to Hyderabad city were blocked, leaving vehicles stranded till evening. Most of the candidates for intermediate exams had to use detours to reach their examination halls. The government permitted them half an hour extra time for reaching the halls in view of the agitation. Cancellation of city trains and 42 passenger trains as a precautionary measure added to the woes of the common man.
Attacks denounced
TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao later denounced the attack on Congress leaders and the statues of coastal Andhra legends and termed it as unfortunate. He summed up the million march with a pledge for Telangana by the agitators who swarmed the Tank Bund lawns, road and aisles.