TRS calls for Telangana bandh

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has called for a Telangana shutdown today to protest the Narendra Modi-led government's reported move to issue an ordinance merging certain villages in Khammam district into residuary Andhra Pradesh.

Telangana chief minister-designate, K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday said that his government would oppose the Central ordinance on Polavaram project aimed to transfer the seven mandals of Khammam district to Seemandhra state.

"TRS is not opposing the Polavaram dam proposal, but only its design as the same was opposed by Chhattisgarh and Odisha governments as well," said Rao. He said the ordinance being cleared in the first meeting of the Union Cabinet was an unconstitutional and undemocratic move, and urged Prime Minister Modi to desist from approving such ordinances, which, he said, would hurt the sentiments of the Telagnana people.

Raj Bhawan officials in Hyderabad said that the proposed ordinance would pave the way for transfer of 136 villages and 211 hamlets of Khammam district to the successor state of Andhra Pradesh. The UPA government had issued a similar ordinance on Polavaram at the last minute for political gains in the recently-concluded general election. But in March, President Pranab Mukherjee returned the ordinance issued by the UPA-2 government.

He argued that the boundaries could not be altered through ordinances when two elected governments were waiting to take charge. They can be altered only after the Parliament discusses it.