YSR's death & KCR's fast
Within few months of getting re-elected as popular CM, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) died in a helicopter crash in September 2009. This resulted in a leadership crisis within the Congress party and also created a political vacuum in the state.[38] During this time, TRS president K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) raised his pitch for the separate state. On 29 November 2009, he started a fast-unto-death, demanding that the Congress party introduce a Telangana bill in Parliament. He was arrested by the police.[39][40] Student organisations, employee unions, and various organisations joined the movement.[41] KCR had told a Congress emissary on 6 December that he would break his fast if Congress president Sonia Gandhi made a public appeal to him to do so.[42] General strikes shut down Telangana on 6 and 7 December.[43]
In an all party meeting called by the state government on the night of 7 December to discuss regarding KCR's fast and how to handle it,[44] all major Opposition parties extended their support for a separate state for Telangana. The state Congress and its ally Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen have left it to the Congress high command to take a final decision. Minutes of the meeting were faxed to Congress high command.[45] Student organisations planned a massive rally at the state Assembly on 10 December without government permission. This prompted deployment of police troops throughout Telangana. [46] The apparent decline in KCR's health led to a sense of urgency to the issue.
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