The sea turned yellow on Tuesday when activists of the Telugu Desam Party Kakinada city unit took out a rally on fishing boats from Jagannaikpur fisheries jetty and proceeded towards the Hope Island in the Bay of Bengal. Holding party flags, the activists raised slogans demanding that the Centre immediately announce Special Category Status to the State. The party workers had earlier taken out bicycle and motorcycle rallies to fight for the cause.
Hundreds of fishing boats from the city and the surrounding areas joined the protest, as Kakinada City MLA Vanamadi Venkateswara Rao flagged-off and led the fishing boat rally. For the onlookers from the shore, the rally resembled a floating wooden terminal of yellow flags as the boats moved towards the Hope Island, located about 25 km from the coast.
With the fishing ban in force, more fishermen joined the protest. It took a couple of hours for the boats to reach the Hope Island, from where they returned to the starting point by afternoon.
‘People cheated’
Mr. Rao alleged that Narendra Modi led Union government deceived the people of Andhra Pradesh by making tall promises of releasing adequate funds for the construction of the capital city and completing pending projects. “In reality, the Prime Minister has given nothing more than a pot full of soil and an equal quantity of water. We can’t take this humiliation any more, but fight for our share in funds,” he said, adding the BJP would have to taste the wrath of A.P. voters, if the Centre failed to accord special status to the State immediately.
