New Telangana Districts Evoke Protests

Several parts of Telangana remained tense on Friday with the State government confirming news about 25 new districts and various people's representatives demanding that the government announce their respective constituencies as the districts' headquarters.

Political leaders in Jangaon in the Warangal district and Gadwal in the Mahbubnagar district strongly demanded that their areas be declared as district headquarters. The people in both the towns took to the roads on Thursday and held protests, keeping the police on tenterhooks.

Even as the police tried to pacify the agitators in Jangaon, the latter went on a rampage hurling stones at the police personnel and destroying over 20 private vehicles and RTC buses. A bus belonging to the Jangaon bus depot was set ablaze by the irate agitators. The police personnel then wielded their lathis to disperse the vandals, and took the Joint Action Committee leaders into custody.

In Gadwal in the Mahbubnagar district, the Congress leaders and workers, led by MLAs D K Aruna and Sampath Kumar, invaded the roads demanding that the State government declare Gadwal as a special district headquarter town. They squatted on the road at the Erravalli crossroads and brought vehicular traffic to a halt for hours.

Upon receipt of the information, the police officials rushed to the spot and tried to cajole them to disperse. When the agitators remained firm on their demand and argued with the police, Aruna and Kumar were taken into custody amid a tense situation.