Agencies/Hyderabad
Blackouts hit emergency services and industry in parts of Andhra Pradesh yesterday, the third day of a strike by public workers protesting against a government decision to split the southern state in two.
Ashok Babu Parchuri, president of a federation representing striking state government employees, said their action had disrupted train services and water supplies and closed hospitals and schools.
“Unless we get some political assurance about keeping the state united, we cannot go back,” he said.
The move to carve out a new state called Telangana triggered violent protests over the weekend and officials said a curfew was imposed for two days in Vizianagaram, one of 13 districts of coastal Andhra Pradesh where many people are opposed to the state being divided.
The state is a hub for Western IT giants and Google has its Indian headquarters in its capital, Hyderabad. Microsoft and Dell also have offices in the city which will remain the common capital for the two states for 10 years.
Tech companies have largely been unaffected by the protests.
The ruling Congress Party approved the creation of Telangana in July, fanning the embers of political division within the state. The cabinet cleared the proposal on Thursday.
Supporters of the split say the Telangana region’s economic development has been neglected in favour of the richer and more powerful coastal region of Andhra.
Critics say the Congress Party had long resisted calls for the new state and only took the step to win votes in coming elections. The undivided state sent 34 members of parliament to the parliament for Congress and its allies in 2009, making it an important political prize.
Many government employees have been on strike since August, but the protests have escalated since Sunday when electricity workers joined the agitation.
Buses of state-owned road transport corporation have also remained off roads for nearly two months.
Meanwhile, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu continued his hunger strike in Delhi for the second day. He is demanding that the central government hold talks with the leaders of all regions of the state to find an amicable solution.
Opposing the state’s division, YSR Congress party chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy’s hunger strike in Hyderabad entered the fourth day.
In Delhi, Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh released to media letters written by both TDP and YSR Congress, supporting the formation of Telangana state.
Srinivas Ayyadevara, president of the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry said supplies and deliveries for businesses were hit by train cancellations and the power outages were disrupting factories.
“This time everything has been affected,” Ayyadevara said.
“It has eaten into our production schedules,” he said, adding that businesses were thinking twice about deals with companies in Andhra Pradesh.
“They’re now wary of placing orders.”
Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy meanwhile ruled out resigning over the issue.
“Quitting is not the solution here, we have to debate the issue. We have to convince the people of the state as to why it should be united,” Reddy told CNN-IBN news channel in an interview.
“My post is not important but if I give it up, it will not help the cause. I will stay on and fight,” he said.
Reddy, who is opposed to the move to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh, said the Congress top leadership needed to be persuaded over the issue.
“We have to convince our high command that it should be united. The problems which are going to arrive after division have never been debated in the public. It has to be debated,” he said.
Asked if the Congress decision to divide the state was a mistake, Reddy said: “In the Seemandhra districts, there are a lot of concerns and worries about their future. So dividing the state without solving the problems is a very big concern of the people.”
Capital Hyderabad, which will go to Telangana, is the bone of contention, he said.
“Nowhere in independent India has the capital of a state ever been divided or has gone to the other side,” said Reddy.
“Then we have basic problems like distribution of river water, electricity, education which is Hyderabad centric. A lot of youngsters come to Hyderabad for education and most of the IT sector and industries are in and around Hyderabad,” he said.
