Telangana crisis: bandh paralyses life in Andhra

New Delhi: The crisis in Andhra Pradesh has escalated and the ripples are being felt at the Centre as well, with the Congress scrambling for cover.
TRS Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao - one of the prime crusaders of the Telangana movement - and Vijayshanthi faxed their resignations to Speaker Meira Kumar on Tuesday.
Sources have told CNN-IBN that Rao is expected to meet the speaker either on Tuesday or Wednesday.
TDP MPs Nageswara Rao and Ramesh Rathod also submitted their resignation to the Speaker.
Tension at Osmania
The 48-hour bandh call given for Tuesday and Wednesday by various political parties - demanding the formation of a separate state of Telangana - has paralysed the Telangana region.
There was tension at the Osmania University in Hyderabad after police fired tear gas shells at stone-pelting protesters.
The students at the Osmania University were protesting against the presence of police after security was beefed up there. The police resorted to tear gas shells to disperse the agitating crowd.
Telangana fire spreads
Stepping up the demand for a separate state, the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti called for a 48-hour bandh starting Tuesday. The districts that are observing the bandh include Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Warangal, Mahbubnagar, Karimnagar and Nizamabad.
Banking and financial activities have come to a standstill in the Telangana region due to the two-day bandh call given for Tuesday and Wednesday by various political parties demanding the formation of a separate state of Telangana.
According to the All-India Bank Officers Association, banking transactions worth Rs 20,000 crore will be affected during these two days, as most of the 5,000-odd branches of all banks in the region may remain closed.
V Anil Kumar, the General Secretary of AIBOA's Andhra Pradesh unit, said the total transactions of all banks put together in the Telangana region are worth around Rs 10,000 crore per day.
"Most of the branches will be closed in the region fearing attacks. We are more worried about bank properties. Some of the branches of Andhra Bank in Telangana were attacked during bandhs in the past. We do not want that," Anil Kumar told PTI.
Though clearing houses will not be affected on Monday, the same may affect on Tuesday, as people cannot deposit cheques on Monday.
It will take three days for bank employees to clear the backlog, he added.
According to an official spokesperson of the All-India Insurance Employees Association, the bandh may have an affect on insurance premium collections in the region.
35 Congress MLAs and 37 TDP MLAs quit on Monday, leaving the state government worried about being reduced to a minority.
Andhra assembly: the number game
With all the resignations, what does it mean for the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh. Here's the number game.
In the 294 member Andhra Pradesh assembly, the Congress along with the Praja Rajyam Party has a combined strength of 173.
The Telugu Desam Party has 90 members.
The Telangana Rashtra Samiti has 11 and others make up 20.
On Monday, 35 MLAs of the Congress and 37 from the TDP from the Telangana region resigned.
If their resignations are accepted by the Speaker, the effective strength of the Andhra assembly will come down to 222 with 111 as the halfway mark.
The congress and PRP - even after the 35 resignations - will have simple majority in house with 138 MLAs and the TDP will have 53 members, while the strength of TRS and others will remain the same.

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