Protests rock Telangana as CM meets Sonia Gandhi

Hyderabad: As Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy spent a hectic day in New Delhi meeting the Congress President Sonia Gandhi and AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, Telangana protagonists were busy building further momentum.

Reddy, who was summoned to New Delhi for consultation on the Telangana issue in the wake of numerous reports that the high command wants to announce its stance on the issue soon, met with Azad before having more than an hour long meeting with Sonia Gandhi.

The meeting was also significant as the Congress Core Committee is reportedly divided on the Telangana issue with some members opposing statehood for the region. There are also reports of a cold war raging between Azad and the Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. Sonia Gandhi was also toying with the idea of taking the responsibility of Andhra Pradesh affairs from Azad and handing it to Digvijay Singh who had ably handled the state’s affairs in the past.

Though the CM is a known opponent of Telangana, as he is from the Rayalaseema region, the party high command wanted him on board before making any announcement. It will be followed by the state Congress President Botsa Satyanarayana’s visit to Delhi and the process was likely to be rounded with a meeting of the Congress leaders from the three regions.

Meanwhile, the situation was heating up in Telangana as more suicides were reported. At the same time the Telangana Joint Action Committee also announced its 45-day agitation programme which will culminate in the “Chalo Assembly” (Let us go to the Assembly) programme in the last week of March.

In the latest incident, an engineering student in Warangal district attempted suicide by setting himself on fire. Neeraj Bhardwaj, a first year student of a private college in Atmakur Mandal poured kerosene on his body and burnt himself. He was admitted to MGM College Hospital in Warangal and doctors described his condition as critical. Condemning the delay in the formation of a Telangana state, in his suicide note the student demanded the resignation of all the Telangana ministers.

With news of the incident spreading, hundreds of students held a demonstration outside the hospital. They also laid siege to the residence of minister Basavaraja Saraiah in Warangal. When police tried to disperse the students they threw stones and damaged police vehicles.

The protestors also blocked the way of the car of Pulla Padmavathy, member of state legislative council in Warangal.

Two people also committed suicide on Monday in support of Telangana. A 17-year-old student of junior college, I Kavita, immolated herself in Vemulapalli village of Nalgonda district, and 27-year-old Katta Sathaiah, an activist of Telangana Rashtra Samiti, jumped to death from a water tank in Buddaram village near Nalgonda.

TJAC convenor Prof Kodanda Ram announced a series of agitation programmes starting with the blockade of Hyderabad-Bangalore highway on February 14 and Hyderabad-Vijaywada high way on March 2. TJAC has also given a call to target the ministers from Telangana region and prevent them from carrying out their administrative duties.