PRP faces Telangana tussle

After the Congress and Telugu Desam Party, it is now the turn of the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) to face the repercussions of the Centre's announcement to carve out a separate Telangana state.

Just like the ruling and the main Opposition parties in the state, the fledgling PRP, floated by actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi, appears to be heading for a division on regional lines.

The Telangana leaders are learnt to have prevailed upon the PRP chief not to take any stand against bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. On the hand, the non-Telangana legislators of the party were stated to have putting pressure on Chiranjeevi to extend his support to the united Andhra agitation. The PRP is yet to announce its decision on the burning issue. Of the 18 legislators of the party, 15 were elected from non- Telangana regions.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Lagadapati Rajagopal and party MLC YS Vivekananda Reddy and several other leaders, pressing for a unified Andhra continued their hunger strike.

Similarly, the supporters of united Andhra organised sit-ins, road blockades, demonstrations and other forms of protests in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions for the seventh consecutive day paralysing normal life.

In the state capital, the elected representatives of Telangana region belonging to the Congress passed a resolution thanking Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, and Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, for deciding to form Telangana state. Those who attended the meeting included senior Telangana leaders like G Venkataswamy, K R Amos and R Damodar Reddy.