The bandh call given by YSR Congress and Telugu Desam to protest against the passage of the AP Reorganisation Bill in the Lok Sabha was partial and peaceful in the city and district on Wednesday.
Most of the shops and establishments remained open and city buses and autorickshaws plied as usual. The RTC services were disrupted for sometime in the afternoon after advocates damaged the rear glasspanes of a bus near the District Court Complex. Some of the State government offices like the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) wore a deserted look in view of the strike being observed by the AP NGOs’ Association.
Some of the schools declared a holiday in advance, while others functioned as usual. Some of the banks located on Main Roads were closed, while most others functioned as usual.
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Students of Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University cleansed the statue of Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu on the Beach Road with milk and raised slogans denouncing bifurcation of the State.
Madugula MLA and Telugu Desam Party rural unit president G. Ramanaidu’s move to stop a youth from carrying out a threat of self-immolation created a flutter in Madugula as the followers and the police feared that the MLA was attempting to commit suicide.
A day-long bandh was observed by advocates who locked the court gates and stopped the traffic at the District Court premises. The advocates later took out a rally on motorcycles carrying black flags.
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The TDP cadre staged a protest under the leadership of the party’s urban president Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar at Jagadamba junction in the city. Visakhapatnam East MLA Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu along with TDP leaders and activists staged a rasta roko near Isukathota for sometime.
Effigy burntLok Satta Party activists burnt an effigy, depicting the UPA government, on the 80-feet road at Akkayyapalem. YSR Congress Party activists blocked the roads for some time at different junctions. They staged a rasta roko for sometime near Maddilapalem. The TDP and YSRC activists staged protests in Elamanchili, Chodavaram, and Anakapalle in the district.
APSRTC employees, led by APSRTC NMU honorary president P. Vishnu Kumar Raju, blocked the road near Maddilapalem junction for some time in the afternoon.
Government Doctor’s Association State secretary P. Shyam Sundar met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee in Delhi and submitted a representation and plans to meet Anna Hazare to brief him about the injustice done to Telugu people.