Hyderabad, Jan. 3: Yawn! Another manch?

But hang on, this time it is for a new cause.

Moving away from their usual demands for power, roads and electricity, the Opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh are now using their vocal chords for an IIT.

They want the institute at Basar in Adilabad district, on the banks of the Godavari. A Saraswati temple in the town, they believe, makes it the perfect setting for an Indian Institute of Technology.

The Telugu Desam Party, Telengana Rashtra Samity (TRS), BJP, CPI and the CPM were joined by their student wings and even the National Students Union of India, which is affiliated to the ruling Congress, as they staged anti-government rallies in three Telengana districts since this morning.

After being allocated an IIT in 2003, educationist Chukka Ramaiah had sent a report to the then TDP chief minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, suggesting Basar as an ideal location. Naidu sent the proposal to the Centre, but no decision was taken. When the Congress’s Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy came to power, he decided the IIT should come up in Medak district, about 75 km from Hyderabad.

D.B. Patil, a BJP MP from neighbouring Maharashtra, also joined hands with the Andhra agitators today. Patil is the MP from Nanded, which is close to Basar.

They burnt an effigy of the chief minister and staged roadblocks and a relay hunger strike. When some of them were lathicharged by police, they damaged government buses.

The campaign also saw TRS member of Parliament Madhusudhan Reddy and MLA Narayan Rao Patil deciding to quit.

Last month, when the chief minister announced the change of the IIT’s location to the Assembly, he argued that not only was 600 acres available in Medak, the district was also close to Hyderabad, which meant it was better connected than other places.

The protesters countered that an international airport coming up at Nanded would serve Basar’s purpose. The Maharashtra MP’s support for the cause has been a boon, they said.

The leaders have threatened to intensify their protest into a mass movement against the Congress government by involving women, teachers and professionals.