New concern in Andhra Pradesh as K Chandrashekhar Rao, or KCR, is reported to be in critical condition in hospital. His doctors say it's imperative that KCR break his hunger fast.
Rao is at the heart of the movement for a separate state of Telangana. He began his fast 10 days ago. In between, he was caught having a glass of juice on camera. This upset his followers; he later insisted his doctors had force-fed him.
Andhra Chief Minister K Rosaiah visited Rao over the weekend to request him to end his fast, but Rao refused. The government worries that reports of his deteriorating health will incite tension.
Hyderabad remains on edge over the Telangana movement. Pro-Telangana protestors surrounded the house of Danam Nagender, Andhra's Health Minister, for proposing that Hyderabad should be made a Union territory. They burnt an effigy of the minister. In response, Nagendar said, "You have a right to protest but you can't make others forcibly shut their mouth. In a democracy, everyone has the right to an opinion."
At Osmania University on Tuesday, professors threatened to quit if police is not withdrawn from the campus. Students were lathicharged by the police on Monday. The University closed down last week till December 18 as a precaution against violence, but it remains in many ways the epicentre of the protests for a Telangana state.
The Telangana issue raged in the Andhra Assembly today, forcing the adjournment of the House for the day. The party leading the movement for a separate state, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), wanted the Chief Minister to move a resolution on Telangana, so that parties could vote on the matter. However, this is dangerous for the ruling Congress, because this could expose its own divisions on the issue. In the wake of the confusion and tension, the Assembly was adjourned.
Congress: Dealing with Telangana
As Andhra's Congress government struggles to maintain law and order, Chief Minister, K Rosaiah, has said it is up to the Congress' central command in Delhi to decide the issue. The party's High Command today held hectic consultations with its MPs from the state amid diverse pulls and pressures.
Almost all the 12 Congress MPs from Telengana region, who favour immediate creation of a separate state, met Law Minister M Veerappa Moily, who is also in charge of the party affairs in Andhra Pradesh. Party MPs from other parts of the state, including Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, son of late Chief Minister Y S Rajashekhar Reddy, also met Moily.
The consultations followed an all-party meeting held in Hyderabad by Chief Minister K Rosiah in a bid to resolve the sensitive issue.
Sources aware of the deliberations said Moily asked them to come out with their opinions so that the party can have a common stand on the issue. The MPs were also asked not to go on record before the media as differing views can "spoil the weather for the party."
A party spokesperson said that the Congress' stand remains that it is in principle not opposed to a separate state as long as "there is a consensus" on the issue.
But the party may soon have to take a more decided stand. On December 10, all groups supporting the Telagana cause have called a "Chalo Assembly" bandh where people have been asked to march to Hyderabad to protest outside the Assembly. There are growing fears that this demonstration will lead to violence on the streets
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Rao is at the heart of the movement for a separate state of Telangana. He began his fast 10 days ago. In between, he was caught having a glass of juice on camera. This upset his followers; he later insisted his doctors had force-fed him.
Andhra Chief Minister K Rosaiah visited Rao over the weekend to request him to end his fast, but Rao refused. The government worries that reports of his deteriorating health will incite tension.
Hyderabad remains on edge over the Telangana movement. Pro-Telangana protestors surrounded the house of Danam Nagender, Andhra's Health Minister, for proposing that Hyderabad should be made a Union territory. They burnt an effigy of the minister. In response, Nagendar said, "You have a right to protest but you can't make others forcibly shut their mouth. In a democracy, everyone has the right to an opinion."
At Osmania University on Tuesday, professors threatened to quit if police is not withdrawn from the campus. Students were lathicharged by the police on Monday. The University closed down last week till December 18 as a precaution against violence, but it remains in many ways the epicentre of the protests for a Telangana state.
The Telangana issue raged in the Andhra Assembly today, forcing the adjournment of the House for the day. The party leading the movement for a separate state, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), wanted the Chief Minister to move a resolution on Telangana, so that parties could vote on the matter. However, this is dangerous for the ruling Congress, because this could expose its own divisions on the issue. In the wake of the confusion and tension, the Assembly was adjourned.
Congress: Dealing with Telangana
As Andhra's Congress government struggles to maintain law and order, Chief Minister, K Rosaiah, has said it is up to the Congress' central command in Delhi to decide the issue. The party's High Command today held hectic consultations with its MPs from the state amid diverse pulls and pressures.
Almost all the 12 Congress MPs from Telengana region, who favour immediate creation of a separate state, met Law Minister M Veerappa Moily, who is also in charge of the party affairs in Andhra Pradesh. Party MPs from other parts of the state, including Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, son of late Chief Minister Y S Rajashekhar Reddy, also met Moily.
The consultations followed an all-party meeting held in Hyderabad by Chief Minister K Rosiah in a bid to resolve the sensitive issue.
Sources aware of the deliberations said Moily asked them to come out with their opinions so that the party can have a common stand on the issue. The MPs were also asked not to go on record before the media as differing views can "spoil the weather for the party."
A party spokesperson said that the Congress' stand remains that it is in principle not opposed to a separate state as long as "there is a consensus" on the issue.
But the party may soon have to take a more decided stand. On December 10, all groups supporting the Telagana cause have called a "Chalo Assembly" bandh where people have been asked to march to Hyderabad to protest outside the Assembly. There are growing fears that this demonstration will lead to violence on the streets
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