Devineni’s Fast: Vijayawada Erupts

Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao was in the Panchayati Raj guest house fasting for the cause of a united Andhra Pradesh, but the police have managed to forcibly enter the place and hustle off the TDP politician to an undisclosed location. As a result, hundreds of Devineni’s supporters have launched violent protests and the police are having to take charge of the situation.

And despite vehement sentiments flaring up in favour of keeping the state united, the Telangana movement seems to have acquired a life of its own. Professor Jaishankar had met with Chidambaram to discuss the Telangana issue. People in the Telangana region – farmers, youth and others – are refusing to pay their electricity bills until the formation of a separate Telangana state.

At the Centre, a messy Lok Sabha has become a daily feature now, and today at 12 noon, it was adjourned for the second time in the day following a raucous session over Telangana. The House was reeling under shouts of unruly groups of politicians voicing their opinions on the issue.