Normal life was paralysed in 13 districts across the Seemandhra region on Tuesday with public transport remaining off the road and over four lakh government employees going on an indefinite strike in protest against the move to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.
Day of protests
Petrol bunks, educational institutions, cinema halls, shops and establishments were closed at most places even as various forms of protests, including hunger strike, rallies and vanta varpu were organised.
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A report from Srikakulam said the town wore a deserted look as thousands of people voluntarily participated in the bandh in the district. An APSRTC official put the losses due to the ongoing agitation at Rs.1 crore in the district.
According to a report from Vizianagaram, all the 840 APSRTC services from nine depots in Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts remained off the road, while the Collector’s office and other government departments wore a deserted look.
Normal life was also affected in Prakasam district as bandh was observed as integrationists led by Samaikyandhra JAC leaders held a massive rally. Taxi owners took out a procession and burnt an effigy of TRS president K. Chandrashekhar Rao in Ongole town while the agitators set ablaze the effigy of Congress president Sonia Gandhi at Markapur.
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Meanwhile spouses of Ministers from Seemandhra called on Governor E.S. L. Narasimhan and petitioned him against bifurcation of the State.