YSR Congress calls for 72-hour shutdown

, Oct 3: YSR Congress party has called for a 72-hour shutdown in

to protest the decision taken by the union cabinet to carve out a separate Telangana state.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday evening, YSR Congress party president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy said the decision to divide Andhra Pradesh had pained him. He vowed to take all steps to stall the bifurcation.

Jagan, as the MP from Kadapa is popularly known, said his party would also approach the court to challenge the central government's action.

Blaming Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for the decision, he demanded that all MPs from Seemandhra to quit pulling down the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) at the centre.

He also demanded resignations of all state ministers to create a political crisis in the state to stall the division.

Claiming that other states were divided after their respective assemblies passed a resolution, Jagan wanted to know why the central government deviated from this procedure to initiate the process for bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh by passing a resolution in the cabinet.