Photo by:Adnan Abidi / Reuters
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Pro-Telangana agitation on Tuesday reached the capital when hundreds of BJP cadre from Andhra Pradesh tried to march towards the Prime Minister’s residence demanding a separate state, forcing police to use water cannons and tear gas shells to quell them.
The drama unfolded at around noon outside the Parliament Street Police Station, less than a km from the highly-fortified Parliament House complex, as the protesters marched from Jantar Mantar, where they have been holding an agitation since yesterday.
The BJP cadres led by party leader Prakash Javadekar tried breaking the barricades after they were stopped by a large posse of policemen outside the station and even attempted to clash with the police.
With protesters insisting that they would march towards Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s residence, police warned them that they would use force to quell them as they did not have permission.
The police used water cannons and tear gas shells to disperse the protesters from the area.
After a while, the protesters led by Javadekar courted arrested and went inside the station where they raised slogans against the UPA Government.
Shouts of ‘Jai Telangana’, ‘We are ready to face lathi and bullets for Telangana’ resonated the area as hundreds of protesters courted arrest.
The protestors were demanding the Centre immediately take steps to form a separate state of Telangana.
BJP, the principal Opposition party at the Centre, is supporting the demand for bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. [With inputs from PTI]