Telangana

                                              New Delhi: Ever since the Monsoon session of Parliament began, four MPs from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had been continuously disrupting proceedings by shouting and protesting against the decision to make Telangana India's 29th state.

But perhaps the highest point in the ongoing drama unfolded yesterday. The four TDP MPs, along with five from the ruling Congress, were suspended from the House for the rest of the session over the disruptions.

Even though they were asked to withdraw from the House by the Speaker Meira Kumar at 11:30 am, the TDP MPs refused to vacate the floor of the Lok Sabha till late evening. Marshals had to be called in to physically lift the MPs and drop them at the gate of the Parliament.

They will not be allowed to attend the rest of the session.

As soon as the Lok Sabha assembled at 11 am yesterday, the members who had been penalized started shouting slogans demanding a united Andhra Pradesh. They refused to be quiet despite repeated requests by the speaker.

The TDP members wore masks of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, provoking a sharp exchange with members of her party, the Congress.

On August 23, 12 members - including the nine MPs punished yesterday - had been suspended for five days over their "United Andhra" protests, demanding that plans to bifurcate Andhtra Pradesh, cleared recently by the Centre, be rescinded.

The government has made it clear that's not going to happen, despite wide protests that are being held in two of the three regions of Andhra Pradesh - Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.
Telangana, the third region, has been fighting for statehood for several decades. In July, the union government said that it would honour a promise made first in 2009 and make Telangana a state.

The IT capital of Hyderabad - the centre of the tug-of-war between those who want a new state and others opposed to it - will be shared between the old and new state for 10 years, after which it will rest with Telangana.