Nellore: The statewide-bandh organised by the opposition parties on Thursday was total and peaceful in SPSR Nellore and Prakasam districts. Most of the shops downed their shutters voluntarily expressing solidarity with the parties protesting against the poor allocation to AP in the recent budget and demanded implementation of promises made in Andhra Pradesh re-organisation Act.
Party cadres forced banks and other government offices to close down for the day when they noticed some of them opening in the morning. With buses confined to bus depots, railway stations witnessed an increase in the traffic. RTC officials in Nellore said they operated 50 per cent of the fleet in the afternoon and revenue is down to Rs 50 lakh from the daily average of Rs 80 lakh. Opposition leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed solidarity with the bandh given by Left parties against injustice in the Union Budget.
YSRCP chief placed the Praja Sankalpa Yatra on hold for Thursday and participated in the bandh at Jolaguntapalli in AS peta of Atmakur constituency. Scores of students and youth joined Y.S. Jagan while he held a placard that read
“Special Status AP’s Right”. YSRC legislator Mekapati Gautham Reddy and Kakani Govardhan Reddy were also present with Jagan. In Nellore, CPI and CPI (M) activists blocked the movement of vehicles at VR college circle, Gandhi statue and other parts of the city.
CPI (M) party workers led by district secretary Ch. Rajagopal staged a protest at Gandhi statue and raised slogans against the NDA and TD. YSR Congress MLA Dr P. Anil Kumar Yadav also participated in the rally. YSR congress leaders and activists organised a bike rally in the city. Speaking to the media Mr Kumar demanded TD ministers in Narendra Modi cabinet to quit and fight against the government.
Congress party workers led by DCC president P. Krishnaiah staged a protest at Gandhi statue without shirts. Krishnaiah came down heavily against the Central government for its ignorance to implement AP Reorganisation Act. “The Central government has failed to allocate special funds for development of truncated state,” he added.
Meanwhile, TD MLAs Kurugondla Ramakrishna and Pasam Sunil organised bike rallies in Venkatagiri and Gudur. There was no trace of TD leaders in any rallies.
