As protests against the plan to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh continued during the third day of the bandh in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, agitators in Nellore closed the gates of the Kandaleru reservoir of the Telugu Ganga project for the second consecutive day and stopped release of water to Chennai for some time before irrigation officials intervened and re-opened them.
In Vijayawada, Telugu Desam Party leaders, including two MLAs, launched an indefinite hunger strike demanding that the Centre drop its move to bifurcate the State.
Tempers ran high in Hyderabad over a claim by Congress MP from Vijayawada Lagadapati Rajagopal in New Delhi that 225 MLAs would oppose the resolution on Telangana if it was introduced in the Assembly. Police made preventive arrests in Vijayawada to foil any attempt by him to begin a hunger strike; Inspector-General (Law and Order) A.R. Anuradha told journalists here that said no permission had been given to the MP to sit on fast.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Telangana Congress leaders lodged complaints that anti-social elements were likely to create trouble if he was allowed to begin a fast.
Representatives of political parties assured the Andhra Cricket Association that they would not disturb the one-day international cricket match between India and Sri Lanka, scheduled to be held in Visakhapatnam on December 18.
