Amid the bandh called by pro-Telangana groups and severe conditions imposed by police, the A. P. NGOs Association is set to hold the ‘Save Andhra Pradesh’ meeting here on Saturday even as police threw a security blanket around the venue -- Lal Bahadur Stadium.
The organisers led by APNGOS Association president P.Ashok Babu said that about 50,000 employees representing 70 associations from the 13 districts of Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema besides Hyderabad were expected to attend the three- hour meeting.
Meanwhile, police said they were prepared to tackle any eventuality.
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A senior police official said that 1,500 personnel would be deployed to maintain law and order. Four layers of security had been put in place at Lal Bahadur Stadium with the deployment of the Andhra Pradesh Special Police and paramilitary forces.
While the Visalandhra Mahasabha announced its support to the meeting, two Congress MPs -- A. Sai Pratap and Vundavalli Arun Kumar -- complained to AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh that some Congress MPs and State Ministers supported the TRS and “radical elements.” At a separate press conference, TRS leaders T. Harish Rao and E. Rajender expressed fears that “anti-social elements” from the Seemandhra region could attend the meeting in the garb of employees and create trouble to blame it on Telangana protagonists.