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Centre concedes demand for separate Telangana state; TRS chief breaks fast | Under tremendous pressure, the Centre late on Wednesday night accepted the demand of Telangana Rashtra Samithi
(TRS) chief K Chandrashekhar Rao for the formation of a Telangana State. The TRS chief, who had been on a fast unto death and was admitted in the ICU of Hyderabad's
Nizam Hospital, finally broke his fast early this morning, expressing his delight
over the result. A decision to activate the process for the formation of a separate
State of Telangana was taken at a late night meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
had with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah after two rounds of consultations
with the Congress Core Committee and Sonia Gandhi. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram
said, "After these consultations, I am making this statement. The process of forming
the state of Telangana will be initiated. An appropriate resolution will be moved
in the state Assembly." Chidambaram added that the Central Government was concerned
over the Telangana issue and after extensive consultations with the Prime Minister
and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosiah, this decision was taken. The Telangana
region accounts for 119 of the 294 assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh and 17 of
the 42 Lok Sabha seats. The Centre and the Congress party were forced to take
this stride, due to the deterioration in the health of Rao, whose fast-unto-death
had entered the 11th day on Wednesday. The decision comes in the backdrop of a
strong demand by Congress MPs belonging to the Telangana region, which met Congress
President Sonia Gandhi and demanded for the creation of a Telangana state. The
Centre has asked Chief Minister Rosaiah to withdraw cases against leaders, students
and those associated with the separate Telangana agitation. Chidambaram has requested
the students to withdraw their agitation. But another big issue that has worried
the Centre is what would happen to Hyderabad, as the TRS is firm on its decision
that Telangana without Hyderabad is unthinkable. KT Rama Rao, the son of TRS chief
said, "Telangana without Hyderabad was unimaginable" On Wednesday, as Andhra government
struggled to maintain law and order. Rosaiah had left it to the Congress' central
command in Delhi to decide on the issue and even arrived in New Delhi to hold
talks with Sonia Gandhi to seek her decision over the Telangana issue. The government
feared that reports of the deteriorating health of TRS chief would incite violence
in the state that was already simmering over the Telangana movement. Cutting across
party lines, Members of Parliament had on Wednesday urged the UPA Government at
the Centre to step in to end the impasse over the Telangana issue in Andhra Pradesh.
Expressing alarm and concern over reports of the deteriorating health of TRS chief
K Chandrashekhar Rao, they had appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to initiate
moves to end the stalemate. Members of Parliament had also appealed Rao to end
his fast, as his medical condition was described as critical. The TRS supporters
had aggressively taken their campaign forward for a separate State. Rao's family
and supporters had also pleaded with him to end his fast, but the TRS chief was
determined and adamant that only signals from the Center could make him change
his decision. With the situation outside Osmania University and the Andhra Pradesh
Assembly particularly tensed, the security in Hyderabad was also increased. On
December 10, all the groups in favour of the Telangana cause had called for a
"Chalo Assembly" shutdown. Police had imposed Section 144 in the region. There
were around 12,500 policemen deployed outside Osmania University in anticipation
of the unrest. To add to that, armed reserve police had been summoned from Karnataka
and Tamil Nadu to work with local policemen and security forces to prevent protesters
from entering Hyderabad. At Osmania University on Tuesday, the students had defied
a government order to vacate their hostels. Professors had also threatened to
quit if the police were not withdrawn from the campus. Students were baton charged
by police on Monday. The university was closed down last week till the December
18 as a precaution against violence, but it remained in many ways the epicenter
of the Telangana protest. The TRS wanted Chief Minister K Rosaiah to move a resolution
on Telangana, so that parties could vote on the matter. |
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