Two TRS legislators climb atop assembly building, hoist black flag

In a dramatic twist to the Telangana march, two legislators of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) climbed atop the Andhra Pradesh assembly building Friday and hoisted a black flag.

Vinay Bhaskar and K. Samaiah created a flutter by climbing on top of the TRS legislative office in the assembly premises and hoisting a black flag. Holding TRS flags and wearing black T-shirts, the lawmakers threatened to jump down if the police tried to arrest them.

However, several assembly marshals and policemen climbed on the building and tried to bring them down.

The legislators were protesting against what they called the undemocratic arrests of hundreds of people in Telangana to foil the march to press for the creation of a separate Telangana state.

Other TRS legislators squatted near the main entrance of the assembly building to protest the "repressive" measures by the government. All of them were holding black flags and wearing T-shirts with slogans that read: "Police rule".

The TRS legislators also conducted a mock "funeral" of Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy.

The legislators of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Communist Party of India (CPI) also staged a sit-in at the other gate.

All the protesting legislators were arrested by the police and shifted to different police stations.

The assembly was adjourned for the fourth consecutive day Friday without any business as the legislators of three parties and also Telugu Desam Party (TDP) lawmakers from Telangana stalled proceedings.

Protesting the arrest of leaders and activists across the region and the traffic restrictions and prohibitory orders in the state capital, the legislators surrounded the speaker's podium.

Speaker N. Manohar adjourned the house twice for half an hour each, and when there was no change in the situation, adjourned it till Monday.