Telangana activists begin march to Delhi over demand for separate state

Hyderabad, April 28 (ANI): Thousands of activists representing different political outfits and also students' have left the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad for New Delhi, as part of a march aimed at demanding the creation of a separate state of Telangana.

Part of the march is being undertaken by a special train.

The protest is being carried out under the banner of a Joint Action Committee (JAC).

The march to New Delhi has been named as 'Sansad Yatra', and nearly 2000 people are participating in it, said the convenor of the JAC, Devi Prasad.

A large number of the participants are students of Hyderabad's Osmania University, which is considered to be the hub of the Telangana protest movement.

A senior JAC functionary said all participants have purchased their railway tickets for the march on the national capital.

The four-decade-old demand for Telangana, which is to be carved out of the economically less developed part of Andhra Pradesh, gathered momentum after the Congress party led-central government accepted the demand in principle in 2009.

The Telangana issue has seen sporadic protests mostly from Osmania University students.

There have been reports of self immolations and suicides committed by charged up protesters over the issue and most recent being the one on April 22, when a 35 year old person committed suicide in Hyderabad. (ANI)