Samaikyandhra protagonists organised protests on the eve of Sakala Janula Samme as the State government employees, electricity employees and municipal employees geared up for indefinite strike from midnight of Monday. Students and State government employees took out a massive rally in the city ahead of the protracted struggle which will disrupt normal life in the district.
Leading the protest, Samaikyandhra Vidyarthi JAC State convenor D. Krishna Yadav said students would be in the forefront of the stir to put pressure on the Centre to rollback its decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.
Students would be the worst-sufferers if Telangana state was created with Hyderabad as its capital as development all these years had been Hyderabad-centric, he added. The students gave flowers to shopkeepers and sought their cooperation for the success of the stir for Samaikyandhra in the larger interest of the State. Transgender people joined members of the Jangam Seva Sangam in conducting a mock funeral for Telangana Rashtra Samiti K.Chandrasekara Rao. Holding KCR responsible for the present imbroglio, they later set ablaze the effigy of the TRS chief.
Protesters brave rain
Tirupati Staff Reporter adds : Samaikyandhra supporters carried on with their protests braving the heavy downpour here on Monday. The call given by Tirupati Samaikyandhra JAC to conduct a mass vocal tribute to Telugu Thalli at the ‘Indira Maidanam’ elicited good support from various quarters. JACs of various organisations like ex-servicemen, students, junior lecturers, advocates, walkers’ associations, TTD staff members and pensioners took out rallies in the city and joined the programme.
Though rain played the spoilsport, people waited eagerly to sing the state anthem ‘Maa Telugu Thalliki’ composed by Sankarambadi Sundarachari, a native of Tirupati. The song was supplemented by traditional musicians of SV College of Music and Dance. Later an oath to safeguard the interests of a unified State was read out at the event in which former Deputy Speaker G. Kuthuhalamma joined the ranks of the JAC members. The second wing, Samaikyandhra Tirupati JAC, organised a rangoli competition near the MCT office. Despite the steady drizzle, women came in huge numbers, took part in the competition and painted the streets in resplendent colours. The stretch from City Centre complex to the MCT office was cordoned off for the event. Later, women gathered at the junction and formed a human chain disrupting the traffic for a while.
Junior lecturers’ JAC announced that their members from 13 districts will assemble in Tirupati on August 18 to decide their plan of action. They also alleged that the private institutions were clandestinely holding classes without extending support to the Samaikyandhra movement, unlike government schools. Members of the Indian Dental Association announced to undertake a two-wheeler rally from Potti Sriramulu statue near Ruia Hospital on August 13.
