With only two days left for the last phase of the Andhra Pradesh legislative Assembly to resume and take up the debate on the draft State Reorganisation Bill, both the supporters and opponents of Telangana were busy devising their strategies.
Introducing a new element of tension and suspense into the situation, Andhra Pradesh Non Gazetted Officers Association (APNGO) has given a call to the Government employees of Seemandhra regions to lay a siege to the State Assembly on January 22, the penultimate day of debate on the Bill to divide the State. APNGOs is in the forefront of Opposition to Telangana and its members burnt copies of the draft bill in the "Bhogi" bonfire lit as part of Sankranti festival.
Telugu Desam members in East Godavari district also joined this novel protest and burnt the copies of the bill terming it "unconstitutional". They alleged that the Congress president Sonia Gandhi with the help of Telangana Rashtra Samiti on one hand and YSRCP leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy on the other was trying to divide the State for electoral benefits.
APNGOs President P Ashok Babu addressing a press conference in Hyderabad today alleged that divisive forces were making a systematic effort to humiliate and insult the people of Seemandhra region. "To protest against the attempt to divide the State we have given a call for Chalo-Hyderabad and lay a siege to the State Assembly. The program will be peaceful and within the legal parameters", he said. He called upon the people of Seemandhra to send at least one member from every family to participate in this program. Ashok Babu urged all the 159 MlAs from Seemandhra region to vote against the Bill.
APNGOs' call for siege of Assembly evoked condemnation from Telangana leaders of Telugu Desam. Senior TDP legislator E Dayakar Rao described the call as foolish and warned if Telangana people stand up nobody can set foot in Hyderabad.