Tension is on the rise in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh as the police have rounded up more than 2,000 Telangana state supporters fearing violence during the visit of Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday.
It was yet another day of arrests and lathicharge against the Telangana supporters at various places in the district as the opposition to Naidu's visit was increasing. Telagnana Rashtra Samiti MLA D Vinay Bhaskar was among the scores of important leaders taken into custody.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti and Telangana Joint Action Committee have called for a strike in the district on Friday as a mark of protest against Naidu's "Rythu Poru Bata", a program of solidarity with the farmers.
The pro-Telangana organisations including the joint action committees of students, doctors and lawyers have come out against Naidu's visit without elaborating his stand on the demand for Telangana stand.
TJAC convenor Prof Kodanda Ram has urged the people of the region to block the roads and not allow Naidu to enter the region.
"No party can take up any program in the region without elaborating whether it is supporting Telangana demand or not", he said.
Naidu's visit to Warangal district, a hotbed of Telangana movement, comes in the backdrop of war of words between the leaders of TRS and the TDP.
While TRS has blamed Naidu and his party for the delay in the formation of Telangana state, TDP leaders like E Dayakar Rao and M Narasimhlu, MLAs, said that K Chandrashekhar Rao had used the movement only to make thousands of crore by fooling and cheating the people.
The police fear that Naidu's visit may spark violence as the supporters of Telangana were hell-bent upon preventing Naidu from entering the region. Thousands of policemen including special police party and the Rapid Action Force have been deployed in Warangal.
The twin cities of Warangal and Hanmakonda were also in the grip of palpable tension and armed police was patrolling the roads.
