PIX: Daunting task for govt as Telangana stir paralyses life

The activists seeking a separate Telangana state call it a final assault. They say that this time around they would not stop until their demands are met.

A two-day rail roko programme is on at the moment, and coupled with the ongoing strike of state buses and auto rickshaws, the complete public transport set up in the entire region has been fully paralysed.

Pro-Telangana activists say looking at the success of this agitation, they propose to continue it for a couple of more days.

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Meanwhile, the entire Andhra Pradesh state cabinet has gone into a tizzy thanks to this agitation, but there is no word of any compromise from their end as of now.

They have been threatening the imposition of the Essential Services Maintenance Act, but have not done it so far.

However, the government is firm that none of the employees from Telangana who are on a strike will be paid their salaries.

Some term it is as an 'empty threat', but one would need to wait until the end of this month to see whether the government would really do what they have threatened.

The pro-Telangana activists informed that they would continue their 'non cooperation' movement and are really not waiting for any of the politicians to further their cause.

The auto rickshaws, buses and other modes of public transport will continue to remain off the roads, and in the days to come the agitation would only make life harder for the government. It has become an ego clash, say the Telangana activists, and "let us see how long the government can hold on and not make an announcement."

The interesting move would, however, be from the Telangana MLAs and MPs. The Congress leaders have been accused of doing a 'drama' with their resignations. All of them had tendered their resignation a couple of months back, but the Speaker rejected them all.

On Saturday, the MLAs said that they would continue to put pressure on the government and would wait for an announcement soon. They said that they would tender their resignations once again on October 2 unless a positive decision was made.

On the other hand, Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekara Rao has also decided to wait and watch how the agitation goes and also what the government would respond.

He has also decided to go on an indefinite hunger strike from October onwards which would only add fuel to the ongoing situation.

In the next phase of the protest, the students have decided to get more aggressive. They say that they do not mind losing many more academic years, but would like a certificate only once Telangana is formed.

The Andhra Pradesh government has a lot on its plate to deal with at the moment. Not only do they have to ensure that normalcy is restored in the Telangana region, but would also have to deal with the ongoing power crisis which the state has been facing due to the protests.

The government is daunted with the task of ensuring that schools and colleges run normally since the complaints from several parents regarding their children missing school and colleges have also started to pour in.

The pressure is also mounting on the government from the IT companies in Hyderabad since the attendance levels have gone down to nearly 40 per cent in the past week due to lack of transport facilities plaguing the city.

Until Friday, the government had reported a loss of Rs 2,500 crore due to the ongoing agitation.