It is under a thick blanket of tension that the Telangana March has begun in a big way, and thousands of protestors are on the streets, demanding a separate state for Telangana.
Pink (TRS) and red (the Left) flags are streaming down Necklace Road, with protestors walking and riding motorbikes. The march has permission to be held on Necklace Road from 3pm to 7pm.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi leaders Vijayasanthi, K Taraka Rama Rao and Harish Rao are part of the march. Many policemen have also joined the rally, holding large-sized pink flags.
Telangana folk songs and dances are being performed at People's Plaza, where several are seated.
The focus of the Telangana March has shifted from the actual Telanagana issue to the government being accused of suppressing an event it has given persmission to.
With barbed wires, barricades, checkposts and policemen resorting to lathicharges and firing tear gas shells, the government is now seen as an undemocratic force that does not want the Telangana voice to be heard.
But the government has two things to worry about. One is the past - last year, during a similar "March of Millions" organized by pro-Telangana wings, statues on the Tank Bund road were desecrated by agitators, with rarely seen before impunity. The second reason the government is cracking its whip today is the future - there is a UN conference on bio-diversity set to happen from October 1, and the city cannot afford to look worse than it actually currently is.