Cloth merchants in the city, who have been agitating for the last 23 days demanding withdrawal of VAT on garments, ended their relay hunger strikes on Sunday after they were informed by Vijayawada West MLA Vellampalli Srinivas Rao that Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy had conceded their demand.
Members of The Cloth Merchants Association and Krishnaveni Cloth Merchants Association jointly launched relay hunger strikes in front of Vastralatha in One Town, pressing for their demand that garments be removed from the purview of Sensitive Commodities Act.
The MLA visited the strike camp, interacted with the agitating merchants and offered them lime juice. Later, addressing the community, he said now that the VAT had been removed as demanded by them, the way was clear for smooth business of the cloth merchants.
