VISAKHAPATNAM: In a novel protest, dozens of youth with their mouths gagged staged a protest on the beach road on Sunday to reiterate their demand for granting Special Category Status (SCS) to the State.
The silent protest carrying placards took place at the statue of Subhas Chandra Bose for about half-an-hour by about 50 youth under the banner of Andhra Yuvatha, most of them fans of Jana Sena founder and actor Pawan Kalyan.
Andhra Yuvatha leader Satish said they were hurt when the police denied them permission to take out a candle rally on January 26 to register protest against denial of SCS as promised during 2014 elections by the BJP.
He also criticised Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for not insisting on the special tag and stating that special package was better than special status.
