Kiran leads protests against Telangana

The Telangana statehood issue on Wednesday made people from Andhra Pradesh fight an emotional battle inside and outside Parliament, with Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy leading a protest against bifurcation of the state while a host of party delegation met President Pranab Mukherjee to urge him to stop the bifurcation. 

All this happened on the first day of the final session of Parliament ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The Centre is racing against time to pass the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill amid stiff opposition from people of the Seemandhra region.

Reddy embarrassed the central leadership by taking his protest to the capital and staging a day-long protest at Jantar Mantar, followed by an evening meeting with Mukherjee.

Central ministers K S Rao, Pallam Raju, K Chiranjeevi and D Purandeswari, state Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana and a large number of party workers from Seemandhra participated in Reddy's protest, while Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha, a pro-Telangana politician, sat on dharna at “Shanti Van”, demanding speedy bifurcation of the state.

Raju alleged that the bill was being processed against democratic norms. “In its current form, the bill does not do justice to any region,” he claimed.

Reddy started his protest with a visit to Rajghat. High drama followed at Andhra Bhavan where pro-Telangana legislators, cutting across party lines, and activists entered into a scuffle with Reddy’s supporters. The chief minister and his supporters travelled in a bus from Andhra Bhavan to Jantar Mantar.

Pro-Telangana activists tried to stop Reddy’s convoy, leading to tension in the area. Police had to intervene as a scuffle broke out between the two groups. Ministers and leaders from Telangana criticised Reddy for staging the protest by defying the party leadership.