As many as 2,000 activists of YSR Congress Party, CPI and CPI(M) were taken into custody in Srikakulam on Saturday early morning, when they tried to enforce bandh demanding Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh. Senior leaders Dharmana Prasada Rao, Tammineni Sitaram, Varudu Kalyani, Reddi Shanti and others strongly criticised the preventive custody of the party workers “when they were agitating for a noble cause.”
Despite the arrest, party leaders could stop movement of buses from various APSRTC depots including Srikakulam, Palakonda and Tekkali. They raised slogans against the Union government for ignoring the legitimate demand of Andhra Pradesh for the Special Category Status.
The party leaders are hopeful that the bandh would be a grand success as all the school and college managements, shops, and establishments agreed to extend their support to the bandh.
Mr. Prasada Rao said that the Union government has also failed to release funds to North Andhra region despite its written assurance in AP Reorganization Act-2014.
