New Delhi/Hyderabad, Dec 11 : A shutdown has been called in coastal Andhra and Rayalseema districts today in protest against the Centre''s decision to give its nod for initiating the process for the formation of a Telangana State.

Students from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema have launched a counter agitation. They staged demonstrations on Thursday. Some protestors turned violent in several areas.

The battle for Hyderabad has begun, as the TRS says, there can be no Telangana without Hyderabad.

KT Rama Rao, the son of TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao, had earlier said, "Telangana without Hyderabad is unimaginable."

The Centre''s nod to form a new Telangana State has profoundly divided the state of Andhra Pradesh.

The Centre and the Congress party were forced to take this step, due to the deterioration in the health of Rao.

The State is now facing a major political crisis with 102 MLAs resigning, 43 of them from the Congress.

An upset Congress party is trying to find a way out.

The Central Government is now caught between the pro and anti-Telangana camps. It can neither afford to go back on its decision to carve out the Telangana state, nor can it allow the State government to be reduced to a minority.

Senior Congress leaders, including Congress President Sonia Gandhi are involved in pacifying the MPs and MLAs from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema region.

There are reports that the Centre is trying to convince the MLAs and MPs to evolve a consensus over the issue.

The Congress requires a consent from the disappointed MLAs and MPs to get the Telangana resolution passed in the assembly.

The Telangana region accounts for 119 of the 294 assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh and 17 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats. (ANI)