Protests in Seemandhra region natural, says Shinde

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Friday described the protests in Seemandhra region against bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh as quite natural, saying wherever a new state is carved out, such feelings are bound to come. Shinde also ruled out the possibility of creating any more states in the country.

"We will take them into confidence. We will try our level best. After all, wherever there is bifurcation of any state, such feelings are there. It is natural. No one can avoid these. But we have to console them. We will try to console them," he told reporters in New Delhi.

He was commenting on the protests in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh and the 48-hour bandh called after the Union cabinet's decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh. The united Andhra supporters blocked highways and enforced closure of shops and other commercial establishments and educational institutions in the two regions.

Asked about the demands for separate states in other parts of the country, the home minister said the central government has no plans to do anything on such demands. "Now we have considered Telangana. Nothing more than that," he said.

The home minister dismissed the suggestion that the Naxal problem may increase in the new state Telangana once it comes into existence.

"The Naxal problem is there. But Andhra Pradesh is one state where we have done excellent work in curbing Naxalism. I am quite confident that even after formation of Telangana, they will completely cut down the activities of Naxalites," he said.