Ministers resign over India state

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Twenty ministers in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh have resigned in protest at the federal government's decision to create a new state in its north.

Dozens of members of the state assembly have already stepped down, while there have been violent demonstrations and a strike in southern and coastal areas.

An estimated 35 million people will live in the new state, Telangana.

Campaigners in the north of Andhra Pradesh had argued that their area was neglected by the state government.

Correspondents say the move is likely to fuel further demands that new states be created. Secessionist groups exist in six other states.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has called a four-day strike to begin on Monday in Darjeeling, while the Kamtapur Peoples Party has said it will set up roadblocks in northern Bengal.

'Crisis'

On Wednesday, the federal government agreed to the demands of the head of the regional Telangana Rashtra Samiti party, K Chandrasekhara Rao, who had been on a hunger strike for 11 days in an effort to press for the creation of a new state.

INDIA'S NEWEST STATE Population of 35 millionFormed from 10 districts of Andhra Pradesh, including city of HyderabadLandlocked, predominantly agricultural areaOne of the most under-developed regions in IndiaCulmination of 50-year campaignMore than 400 people died in 1969 crackdown <a class="" href="/2/hi/south_asia/8406456.stm">India's 'Tiger of Telangana' feted</a> <a class="" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/soutikbiswas/2009/12/does_india_need_more_states.html">Biswas: New states needed? </a>

Mr Rao's condition had weakened in the preceding days, while his supporters had stepped up protests and threatened to storm the state assembly.

Home Secretary Palaniappan Chidambaram said the new state of Telangana would be made up of 10 districts in the north and north-west of Andhra Pradesh, and that the process of secession would begin soon.

The decision sparked outrage in the state assembly and prompted 140 of its 294 members to resign, including 79 from the Congress party, which leads both the state and federal governments. The resignations have yet to be accepted by the speaker, who is said to be consulting constitutional advisers.

This was followed by a strike in the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions that has seen businesses and educational institutions shut, and vehicles kept off the road.

On Saturday, protesters damaged buildings and vehicles, and disrupted public transport in the major towns of Anantpur, Chittoor and Nellore, police said.

State ministers from Andhra and Rayalaseema later submitted their resignations, saying they wanted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reverse the decision to carve up the state.

"We want Andhra Pradesh state to remain united," said Ramanarayana Reddy, the minister for municipal administration. "The division of the state will not be in anybody's interest."

The separatists in Telangana say that their region has been neglected

The BBC's Omer Farooq in the state capital, Hyderabad, says Chief Minister K Rosaiah has so far refused to say whether he will accept the resignations.

"There is a crisis and I am hopeful that the central leadership of Congress party will solve it", he told reporters.

If the resignations are accepted, Mr Rosaiah will be the only person from the Andhra region still in his cabinet, our correspondent says.

The demand for separate state status for the underdeveloped and drought-prone area of Telangana dates back 50 years. More than 400 people died in violence in 1969.

Campaigners say Telangana's economic development has been neglected in favour of the richer and more powerful Andhra region - and that a new state is the only solution.

The last three new states in India were formed in 2000: Chhattisgarh was created out of eastern Madhya Pradesh; Uttarakhand was created out of the hilly areas of northern Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand was carved from Bihar's southern districts.