India's lower house moved to create a new state in the south to resolve a 50-year dispute, risking unrest where Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have their offices as the ruling Congress party seeks votes before elections.
The law creating Telangana state from 10 districts of Andhra Pradesh, India's fifth-most populous state that sits on its southeastern coast, passed Tuesday despite protests. A lawmaker last week used pepper spray to prevent the bill from being presented amid a scuffle that left 18 parliamentarians suspended, and Tuesday a live television feed of the proceedings was cut.
"This is a black day in the history of this country," Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, leader of the YSR Congress, a party based in Andhra Pradesh that opposes the division of the state, told reporters Tuesday. He called for a general strike in the state Wednesday in protest.