Indians launch strike in demand for new state

Shops and businesses were shut and public transport halted as a two-day strike demanding the creation of a new state in southern India paralyzed the region.

The strike came after more than a dozen politicians resigned from parliament to press their demand that a new state of Telangana be carved out of Andhra Pradesh state.

At least 80 members of the state legislature have also resigned.

Supporters say the area in the northern part of the state is underdeveloped and ignored by powerful politicians from southern Andhra Pradesh.

Protests demanding a new state gained strength in late 2009 when veteran politician K. Chandrasekhara Rao began a hunger strike. After 11 days, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government agreed to split the state, but little action has been taken since then.

Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told reporters in New Delhi that the Congress party was talking to the MPs in a bid to resolve their differences.

He said the government has launched a consultative process and a final decision would be made only after it was complete.

Police and paramilitary troops patrolled the streets in the state capital, Hyderabad, but there were no reports of violence. Authorities have banned all public gatherings and rallies for a week.