Black Stone
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India to form new southern state
India's government has said it plans to allow a new state to be created from part of southern Andhra Pradesh state.
Home Minister P Chidambaram said the process of forming the state of Telangana would begin soon.
Campaigners for a Telangana state say the region has long been neglected. One of their leaders has ended a hunger strike. His supporters are celebrating.
But 70 state assembly members are resigning in protest, which observers say could lead to a political crisis.
The legislators, mostly from to the state's governing Congress party, said they were not consulted by the federal government before it decided to form the new state.
Two members of India's national parliament with seats in Andhra Pradesh - one a Congress party member and the other from the state's opposition Telugu Desam Party - have also handed in their resignations.
The demand for separate state status for the underdeveloped and drought-prone Telangana region dates back 50 years.
The region is spread over 10 northern districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Campaigners for the new state say that economic development in their region has been neglected in favour of the richer and more powerful Andhra region.
K Chandrasekara Rao of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) broke his fast after Mr Chidambaram's announcement.
Mr Rao quit the Congress-led government in 2006, saying the government had not fulfilled its "assurance" for a separate Telangana state.
'Happy'
The government announcement came after days of protests by Telangana separatists.
"The process of forming the state of Telangana will be initiated. An appropriate resolution will be moved in the state assembly," Mr Chidambaram said at midnight after talks with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi.
He said the government had asked the authorities in Andhra Pradesh to withdraw court cases against leaders, students and others "associated with the present agitation".
Mr Chidambaram appealed to protesters to call off their demonstrations.
His announcement was greeted with celebrations among the protesters.
Supporters of the protest burst crackers, beat drums, danced and sang songs - some of them outside the hospital where Mr Rao had been admitted during his fast.
Mr Rao said: "I am happy that this is the victory of 35 million people who live in the Telangana region."
Protest rallies seeking a separate state planned for Thursday will now be "turned into victory rallies", organisers said.
Thousands of police were deployed in Hyderabad ahead of the rallies, but after Mr Chidambaram's announcement, security will be relaxed, say correspondents.
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 created out of the southern districts of Bihar.
India has 28 states.
More than 400 people died in violence over the demand for a Telangana state in 1969.
India's government has said it plans to allow a new state to be created from part of southern Andhra Pradesh state.
Home Minister P Chidambaram said the process of forming the state of Telangana would begin soon.
Campaigners for a Telangana state say the region has long been neglected. One of their leaders has ended a hunger strike. His supporters are celebrating.
But 70 state assembly members are resigning in protest, which observers say could lead to a political crisis.
The legislators, mostly from to the state's governing Congress party, said they were not consulted by the federal government before it decided to form the new state.
Two members of India's national parliament with seats in Andhra Pradesh - one a Congress party member and the other from the state's opposition Telugu Desam Party - have also handed in their resignations.
The demand for separate state status for the underdeveloped and drought-prone Telangana region dates back 50 years.
The region is spread over 10 northern districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Campaigners for the new state say that economic development in their region has been neglected in favour of the richer and more powerful Andhra region.
K Chandrasekara Rao of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) broke his fast after Mr Chidambaram's announcement.
Mr Rao quit the Congress-led government in 2006, saying the government had not fulfilled its "assurance" for a separate Telangana state.
'Happy'
The government announcement came after days of protests by Telangana separatists.
"The process of forming the state of Telangana will be initiated. An appropriate resolution will be moved in the state assembly," Mr Chidambaram said at midnight after talks with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi.
He said the government had asked the authorities in Andhra Pradesh to withdraw court cases against leaders, students and others "associated with the present agitation".
Mr Chidambaram appealed to protesters to call off their demonstrations.
His announcement was greeted with celebrations among the protesters.
Supporters of the protest burst crackers, beat drums, danced and sang songs - some of them outside the hospital where Mr Rao had been admitted during his fast.
Mr Rao said: "I am happy that this is the victory of 35 million people who live in the Telangana region."
Protest rallies seeking a separate state planned for Thursday will now be "turned into victory rallies", organisers said.
Thousands of police were deployed in Hyderabad ahead of the rallies, but after Mr Chidambaram's announcement, security will be relaxed, say correspondents.
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 created out of the southern districts of Bihar.
India has 28 states.
More than 400 people died in violence over the demand for a Telangana state in 1969.
