Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Telangana Students’ Joint Action Committee have given a bandh call for the region on Saturday to protest the oppressive and undemocratic measures taken by the government to thwart the ‘Chalo Assembly’ programme on Friday.
In a statement, TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao urged the Telangana people, educational institutions, commercial establishments and traders to make the bandh successful as a token of their protest to the government’s iron-fisted attitude on the attempt by the region’s people to express their aspirations.
However, CPI and BJP who supported the Telangana JAC’s programme on Friday along with TRS have disassociated with the Saturday’s bandh call alleging that the TRS leadership has taken the call unilaterally, without even consulting them.
State secretary of CPI, K. Narayana, termed the bandh call irrational, while State president of BJP, G. Kishan Reddy, said they were not party to the call. Mr. Reddy, however, said they would talk to the TJAC leadership on the issue.
V. Lakshmana Reddy of Jana Chaitanya Vedika has requested the political parties and people’s organisations to put an end to bandh calls harming the interests of common people and workers in the unorganised sector. He suggested them to adopt alternative methods to express and register their protest.
He, however, condemned the ‘over-enthusiasm’ exhibited by the police in foiling ‘Chalo Assembly’ programme and in the process violating human rights of people.