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DRAMATIC PIX: Youth threatens suicide over Telangana
Srinivas, a 22 year old youth from Adilabad on Thursday created a stir in Hyderabad and caused a massive traffic jam in the busy Kothi area when he scaled a 50 feet high hoarding with a petrol bottle threatening to commit suicide.
Resorting to a novel protest in support of Telagnana state, the youth demanded immediate resignation by all the elected representatives of the region, including the ministers. "If they do not resign, I will jump and end my life", said Srinivas who was also armed with a bottle of petrol and a mobile phone.
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DRAMATIC PIX: Youth threatens suicide over Telangana
The drama which started around noon continued till late in the evening keeping the police on tenterhooks.
Passionate appeals by the leaders of Telangana agitation and even personal intervention by the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy failed to cut ice. Police officers, who had set a net below the hoarding and barricaded the area, also established telephonic contact between him and his parents in Adilabad. But he refused to listen to his parent's tearful plea to come down. His mother said that Srinivas was the only child they had.
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DRAMATIC PIX: Youth threatens suicide over Telangana
Srinivas said that he was very upset and angry that despite a ten-day long strike by the people of Telangana the Congress leaders were keeping quiet and the central government had not reacted to the strike.
Even as thousands of people gathered at the place, Telangana Rashtra Samiti leaders T Harish Rao, Vijay Shanti, Telangana Jagruti leader K Kavita, popular folk singer Ghaddar, BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya and rebel TDP leader Nagam Janardhan Reddy also arrived one after the other and tried to persuade the youth to come down.
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DRAMATIC PIX: Youth threatens suicide over Telangana
The incident was being seen as an indication of the growing frustration and anger among the ordinary people of Telangana with the indifferent attitude of the Congress leaders both at the state and the center.
In a reflection of the growing anger, the Telangana agitators targeted Congress leaders at many places. For the first time since the mass indefinite strike started ten days ago, the striking Telangana employees targeted a minister in the state secretariat.
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DRAMATIC PIX: Youth threatens suicide over Telangana
The slogan shouting employees barged into the conference hall in the secretariat where the minister for civil supplies D Sridhar Rao, who hails from Telangana, was addressing a press conference.
The agitated employees disrupted the press conference and asked the minister to resign and lead their agitation. "Because you failed to do your duty, we are forced to go on strike", a leader of the employees told the minister.
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DRAMATIC PIX: Youth threatens suicide over Telangana
The minister tried to explain his position saying he was also a supporter of Telangana and was bringing pressure on the center, but the employees shouted him down. Sridhar Rao was forced to leave the hall.
In another incident a Congress MLA from Medak Narsa Reddy bowed to the pressure form the people and announced his resignation.
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DRAMATIC PIX: Youth threatens suicide over Telangana
The situation has worsened for the Congress party in Telangana region after two All India Congress Commmittee spokesperson Renuka Choudhary and Abhishek Manu Singhvi claimed before the media in Delhi that the indefinite strike had no impact on the normal life in the region.
The statements have also angered the Congress leaders from Telangana region who blamed the Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and the governor ESL Narasimhan for the statements saying they were sending misleading reports to the center.
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DRAMATIC PIX: Youth threatens suicide over Telangana
The Telangana Congress steering committee met in Hyderabad on Thursday to discuss the situation. After the meeting the member of Lok Sabha M Jagannadham said that the ministers MLAs and MPs from Telangana will go to Delhi and meet the central leadership on Sunday. "If they do not take any decision even after that we will take a tough decision", he said.
The Telugu Desam Telangana Forum on the other hand has decided that its MLAs will submit their resignation to the speaker on September 28 and support the ongoing strike.
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DRAMATIC PIX: Youth threatens suicide over Telangana
Meanwhile the administration continues to be paralysed in Telangana region and normal life was badly hit as more than 8 lakh government employees, teachers and other people continued their indefinite strike. 10,000 buses of RTC were off the road and coal production in the mines of Singareni Collieries has come to a grinding halt.
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DRAMATIC PIX: Youth threatens suicide over Telangana
With electricity generation in the thermal plants declining, the state government has introduced power cuts ranging from two hours in Hyderabad to 8 hours in villages.
The situation was likely to worsen further as the doctors have threatened to stop even emergency services. The Telangana Joint Action Committee has given a call for 'Rail Roko' in Telangana on Saturday and Sunday. It has also called for the strike by the central government employees in Telangana region on Monday.