Strike to recognise Telangana shuts down shops, transport

New Delhi: A strike aimed at forcing the government to recognise the independence of a south Indian region shut businesses and disrupted transport on Tuesday, posing another challenge to floundering Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Andhra Pradesh, one of the country's biggest states, is a stronghold of Singh's graft-tainted Congress Party and its capital Hyderabad is home to the India headquarters of global firms such as Microsoft and Google.

On Monday, nine Congress members of parliament from the state resigned from the federal parliament over the party's failure to take a stand on the four-decades-old demand to declare the northwestern Telangana region a separate state.

Out of touch
 
That rebellion, and the resignation of 42 Congress members of the state assembly puts the party's majority in the federal and state parliaments at risk and has highlighted the indecisiveness of a government seen as increasingly out of touch.

Telangana joins a long list of issues unresolved by a rudderless Congress that includes reforms to land acquisition, archaic taxes and foreign direct investment rules that have dampened market performance and spooked investors.

The government's foot-dragging over the issue - it approved the new state in principle last year, but changed its mind after criticism from the opposition - adds to a slew of corruption scandals and a failure to curb high inflation that have seriously undermined its authority and forced Singh to refute accusations that he is a lame-duck leader.

Few expect the government to fall over Telangana.

But if the resignations are accepted, the loss of nine votes in New Delhi would put Congress and its allies on the back foot when parliament reopens on August 1, and may disrupt business in a chamber that has lost months of legislative work because of opposition protests over corruption. 
 
'Mess'
If the resignations of the state assembly members are accepted, Congress would lose its majority there.

"Cong mess now adds Telangana to its menu", The Economic Times blazed on its front page on Tuesday.

Independence activists say the Telangana region has been neglected by successive governments and trails other regions in terms of economic development. They called for a 48-hour strike to press their demands for independence shortly after the lawmakers resigned.

A cartoon in the Hindu newspaper depicted Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi being singed by a Telangana fire as they stepped out to open parliament.
Congress holds 32 of the 42 national parliamentary seats from Andhra Pradesh, making the state one of the most important in a general election.

Demands for new states

India has 28 states and carved out three new ones in 2000. Besides Telangana, there are demands for new states in western and eastern India.

Authorities deployed more than 13,000 police and paramilitary troops in Hyderabad on Monday in a bid to prevent a repeat of pro-independence protests in March that turned violent and disrupted business in the city.

The Telangana Joint Action Committee said on Monday that road and rail blockades and student rallies would follow the two-day strike.

Congress has constantly changed its mind about Telangana. Home Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters on Monday that the party was yet to make a final decision and called for "understanding and patience".