It was a protest of a different kind. Activists of the Telugu Desam Party, who usually stage slogan-shouting demonstrations and hunger strikes, for a change came with a pushcart filled with a variety of dishes.
Rickshaw-pullers, hamalis and others soon gathered in front of the closed Anna Canteen on the arterial Kurnool road and the activists won their hearts by serving hot wholesome meal to the assembled persons.
“We have been starving ever since the Anna Canteens were closed down by the new government,” said a group of persons after relishing the sumptuous food.
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Leading the protest, former Municipal Chairperson Mantri Srinivasa Rao said it had become a habit for Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to scrap each and every welfare scheme launched by the previous Chandrababu Naidu government without any rhyme or reason.
The TDP leader warned that the stir would be intensified if the government did not reopen the canteens as toiling masses were hit hard because of the government's ‘unthoughtful’ decision.
If the government did not like the naming of canteens after NTR, it was free to change the name. But poor people should not be punished for no fault of theirs, said TDP women’s wing leader K. Kusumakumari.
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‘Anti-people policies’
Srikakulam Staff Reporter adds:
Former Minister and TDP senior leader Kondru Muralimohan on Friday alleged that Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government was adopting anti-people policies and closure of the Anna Canteens indicated the intention of the administration.
He led an agitation at the Anna Canteen here and vowed to intensify protests if the government did not take steps for their reopening immediately.
In another protest, former Minister K. Atchannaidu and TDP district president Gowthu Sirisha said that the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government had lost the faith of the people within three months. They said that the people had started comparison between the TDP government and the new government.