Minister, MPs face ire of Telangana protesters

HYDERABAD: A minister and two MPs belonging to the Congress Wednesday had to face the ire of Telangana protesters, who were demanding that they resign immediately for the sake of a separate state.Tension prevailed in Nalgonda town, about 100 km from here, as teachers threw chairs, footwear and water bottles towards the dais when the leaders came to a hunger strike camp of teachers to express solidarity with them.Police and Congress workers came to the rescue of Infrastructure Minister K. Venkata Reddy, and MPs G. Sukhender Reddy and K. Rajagopala Reddy, eyewitnesses said.Police carried out a baton-charge to control the unruly teachers. The supporters of the minister and the MPs also clashed with the teachers, who along with all government employees in Telangana, are on a hunger strike demanding the separate state.When the minister and the MPs reached the hunger strike camp, the teachers raised slogans of “Go back”. They wanted the leaders to visit them only after getting their resignations accepted.The two MPs along with 13 others from the region had submitted their resignations in July but the Lok Sabha speaker has not yet taken a decision.Only a couple of hours before the incident, the minister had announced that he would submit his resignation to state governor Oct 1. He also declared at a meeting with his supporters that he would sit on a day-long fast Oct 2 and participate in the protests from Oct 3. Telangana activists had tried to barge into the meeting, which was also attended by the two MPs.In Warangal, Telangana supporters attacked the house of another minister G. Saraiah, demanding his resignation. The protesters clashed with the police and damaged the furniture.The minister or his family members were not present when the attack took place.The pressure is mounting on Congress leaders at a time when some top leaders are camping in Delhi to meet central leader and state in charge Ghulam Nabi Azad. The leaders have set Sep 30 as the deadline for the central leadership to take a decision on Telangana.