YSRC, TDP call for bandh in Seemandhra

The YSR Congress has called for a bandh in the Seemandhra region on Friday to protest against the approval given by the Union Cabinet to the State bifurcation Bill.

The Seemandhra TDP leaders have called for a 48-hour bandh to protest against the Cabinet decision.

Describing the decision as yet another step towards destruction of the State, party president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy flayed the Congress and the Centre for going ahead with bifurcation of the State for the sake of votes, disregarding the four-month-long agitation in Seemandhra. “They have ignored the aspirations of 75 per cent of the people,” he said calling for a bandh in the “area that is set to suffer immensely on account of the decision.”

State Minister Ganta Srinivas Rao described the development as a “black day” for Andhra Pradesh and called for a bandh in Visakhapatnam on Friday. He criticised the Central Government for hurting the feelings of the Telugu people and said the Seemandhra leaders were committed to defeat the Bill as and when it was referred to the Assembly.

Another Seemandhra leader N. Tulasi Reddy said there was still a long way to go and the people should not give up their hopes. There was no instance of a new State being formed without the acceptance of majority members in the Assembly.

TRS guarded

Even as a celebratory atmosphere erupted across the Telangana region, the TRS remained guarded in its reaction. While thanking the Cabinet and Congress president Sonia Gandhi for conceding separate Telangana, TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao termed as unfortunate the decision to vest the Governor and two representatives of the Centre with control over Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits.

Continuation of existing system of admissions into the technical and higher educational institutions here would hurt the people of Telangana. It was not the time for celebrations and the party would respond only after examining the details of the draft Bill at the polit bureau meeting on Friday.

TRS MLA T. Harish Rao said the statehood was a result of sacrifices of by 1,000 youth and students who committed suicide for a separate State.

The TRS TRS will continue its pressure on the Congress till the Bill was passed in Parliament,” he said.