AP revenues take a hit on agitations

Andhra Pradesh chief minister K Rosaiah said revenues coming to the government in the form of taxes had taken a beating due to the turmoil in the state. “Trade was first affected by the agitations for a separate Telangana and now for a unified Andhra,” he told reporters here on Thursday.

According to him, the revenue loss is huge and it would take some time to arrive at a figure. All the sectors, especially transport, has been affected badly. “This would result in rise in prices of essential and other commodities.”

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme too suffered in the past fortnight. The subsequent fall in income levels and rise in prices would burden the poor, he said, urging political parties to observe restraint and register their protests without putting the common man to trouble. “Development activities have stopped in the last few days and this will slacken the growth,” the chief minister said.

Rosaiah asked the educational institutions in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra to open from next Monday. The police were resorting to some preventive custodies only to ensure there was no law and order problem, he said.

Meanwhile, Praja Rajyam Party chief, Chiranjeevi, resigned as member of the Assembly in protest against the Centre’s decision to carve out a separate state for Telangana. He has now decided to support the ongoing united Andhra agitation.

Taken aback by the party president’s volte-face on the issue of state’s bifurcation, PRP activists hailing from Telangana staged a dharna in front of party's headquarters here. The party legislator from the region , Maheshwar Reddy, resigned in protest.

On the other hand, Talangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president, K Chandrasekhara Rao, said there was no need for the Assembly to adopt a resolution to form a Telangana state. Citing the provisions of the Constitution and earlier judgments of the Supreme Court, he said the Centre could go ahead with its decision to accord statehood to the Telangana region even if the Assembly did not adopt a resolution to that effect.

The TRS chief warned that the people of Telangana would revolt violently this time if a Telangana state was not formed. He would also start a Telangana news channel on January 28, 2010.

Earlier, TRS leaders led by legislator T Harish Rao staged a protest before the chief minister’s office demanding withdrawal of cases against students. They later held discussions with the chief minister in this regard.

Protests and rallies were held in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions disturbing normal life for the eighth consecutive day as the ongoing agitation for a united Andhra intensified.

Telugu Desam Party senior leader Kodela Siva Prasada Rao started his indefinite fast at Guntur. Congress MP Lagadapati Rajagopal and MLC YS Vivekananda Reddy continued their hunger strike at Vijayawada and Kadapa respectively.