The 48-hour rail roko called by the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) in support of a Telangana State concluded successfully on Sunday evening. However, the indefinite strike by Government employees, teachers and other sections continued on the 13th day.

Similarly, there was no sign of the week-long strike of the Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation buses ending, as talks between striking employees and the management failed to resolve the issue.

The people heaved a sigh of relief with the ending of the rail strike as there was speculation that the programme could be extended by another 48 hours. TJAC convenor Kodanda Ram said that though there was a call from different quarters to continue the rail strike further, the committee decided to stick to its original schedule.

“This is the festive season and people have travel plans to go to their home towns. We don’t want them to suffer,” he told reporters, while taking part in the rail roko programme on the second day on Sunday at Moula Ali station near Hyderabad.

“The rail roko was an unprecedented success and we have achieved our goal of sending a message to the Centre. If they don’t listen to our demand even now we will take up other forms of agitation,” he warned.

TRS legislator K Taraka Rama Rao demanded that the Central Government immediately move a Bill in Parliament for the formation of Telangana State. “It is a matter of shame that while the people of Telangana were struggling, Telangana Congress leaders were indulging in appeasing Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy,” he added, demanding that they should immediately resign to bring more pressure on the Union Government.

Rama Rao said if the need arose, his father and TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao would go on an indefinite fast, even though he was not keeping well.

No train could run for the second consecutive day in the Telangana region as thousands of Telangana supporters continued to occupy the railway tracks and railway stations. At many places, including the important junction of Khazipet, Telangana activists played different games, including cricket, on the tracks. Activists also organised cooking, eating and cultural programmes on the tracks.

Many important leaders of the movement spent the night sleeping on the tracks to prevent any attempt to run the trains on Saturday night. The South Central Railway - which had fully or partially cancelled more than hundred express trains and more than 200 passenger trains - has announced that it will start running the trains from Sunday evening.

Railway authorities and staff were getting ready for the resumption of train services from Secunderabad, Nampally and Kachinguda stations in Hyderabad.

On the other hand, the Railway Protection Force has booked cases against Kodanda Ram and several other leaders of TRS and the BJP for organising the programme and paralysing train services for two days.

Meanwhile, All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president and member of Lok Sabha from Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi has urged Telangana protesters to see that the indefinite strike does not affect the departure schedule of Haj pilgrims. He rued the fact that the indefinite strike was causing so much difficulty to the common people.