Telangana CM-designate calls for shutdown Thursday

Telangana's chief minister-designate K. Chandrasekhara Rao called for a shutdown Thursday to protest a central ordinance to transfer over 200 villages of Khammam district to Andhra Pradesh.

Chandrasekhara Rao, also the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief, gave the shutdown call after the central government reportedly sent to President Pranab Mukherjee an ordinance to merge the villages with Andhra Pradesh.

The TRS, which came to power in Telangana in the recently-held elections, has asked its units in all 10 districts including Hyderabad to make the shutdown a success.

KCR, as the TRS leader is popularly known, has appealed to the president not to approve the "unconstitutional" ordinance.

The ordinance was reportedly passed in the first meeting of the new central cabinet Tuesday.

KCR, who is set to take oath as the first chief minister of Telangana after it formally comes into being as a separate state on June 2, said the ordinance was unconstitutional as the boundaries of a state can be changed only after consultation with the assemblies of both the states under article 3 of the constitution.

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh assemblies will be formally constituted on June 2, the day of formation of the two Telugu states.

The TRS chief has threatened to challenge the ordinance in the Supreme Court.

The previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government while granting national status to Polavaram project to be built across Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh had decided to transfer eight mandals which will be submerged in Telangana to Andhra Pradesh.