KCR out of hospital, Telangana still a dream

Hyderabad: Telangana Rashtra Samithi President K Chandrashekhar Rao was on Friday morning discharged from the Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in Hyderabad but his dream of a separate state of Telangana has run into rough weather.

KCR had gone on a hunger strike demanding that Telangana be carved out of Andhra Pradesh and was admitted to NIMS on December 3 after his health deteriorated.

The 55-year-old leader finally broke his 11-day long fast on the night of December 9 after the Union Government decided to initiate the process for the creation of Telangana.

However, his dream of a separate state of Telangana carved out of the 10 districts of Andhra Pradesh is still to become a reality as 128 Andhra MLAs have sent in their resignation to Assembly Speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy.

The MLAs belong to Rayalseema and other parts of Andhra and Reddy confirmed that he had received the resignations of 102 MLAs but added that he is yet to take a decision whether to accept the resignations or not.

The MLAs belong to all the major political parties in the state. While 76 Congress MLAs have put in their papers, 38 MLAs of Telugu Desam Party and 14 of Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party and other smaller parties have submitted their resignation.

Reacting to resignations by a number of MLAs over the Telangana resolution, Praja Rajyam Party President Chiranjeevi told the state Assembly that a proper procedure should be followed.

"A lot of MLAs are resigning from the Assembly which is not good. There is a process which needs to be followed for the formation of a separate state, there should be a consensus. We do stand by our earlier decision of backing Telangana but we insist that a correct procedure be followed," said Chiranjeevi.

The Assembly had to be adjourned till Monday after MLAs from Rayalseema and coastal parts of the state started shouting slogans against the division of the state.

Andhra Pradesh Assembly has 295 MLAs with one nominated legislator belonging to the Anglo-Indian community.

A bandh call has also been given in coastal Andhra and Rayalseema region by political leaders and students association.

Several rallies and protest marches in Vijaywada and Vishakhapatnam saw students turning up in large numbers. Although the protests have been largely peaceful but some areas reported a few incidents of buses being stoned and burned.

Chief Minister K Rosaiah, who on Thursday said that no decision regarding Telangana would be taken in haste, appealed for calm by the protestors.

"There are several rallies taking place and police are trying very hard to control university students. We must remain peaceful. All parties need to take collective responsibilities," Rosaiah appealed in the Assembly.

Opposing any movement to divide Andhra, all non-Telangana MPs belonging to Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra region will be meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in parliament at 1215 hrs IST on Friday.

The MPs will also meet Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi.

Chidambaram had on Wednesday night announced that the process for creating Telangana would be initiated soon. But now state MLAs are divided into pro-Telangana and pro-united Andhra Pradesh lobbies.