Telangana supporters cripple rail services

According to television reports some protesters have also been detained trying to block the tracks at Hyderabad’s Sitafal Mandi station, while across the state 124 trains have already been cancelled in view of the three-day agitation.

Adding to the woes of the Congress government in state, a majority of the party’s MPs from the Telangana region have joined the ‘rail roko’ agitation, despite the state police chief and the Chief Minister warning that people disrupting train services will be dealt with sternly.

Over the last month, the shutdown has been steadily increasing pressure on the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre to expedite the bifurcation of the state, carving out the Telangana region with AP’s current capital Hyderabad as its main city.

Most politicians from coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema regions, however, want the state of 85 million people to remain unified, and especially oppose tearing out the IT-hub city Hyderabad that would affect the state’s economy, creating a impasse for the Centre and the state.

The Telangana region, merged with Andhra Pradesh in 1956 against the wishes of many locals, comprises of 10 districts – Adilabad, Hyderabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy, and Warangal.

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