Normal life was affected and bus service was disrupted as a total shut down was observed in Andhra Pradesh in protest against the delay by the Central Government in granting special status to the State.
The strike called by the left parties had the support of the main Opposition YSRC Congress and Congress party and other parties. With the protestors staging sit in demonstration outside the bus depots across the States the buses could not ply. The lorry and trucks were also off the roads and petrol pumps were closed. With shops and business establishments keeping the shutters down, normal life was affected and roads wore a deserted look all over the State. However, no untoward incident was reported from anywhere.
Protestors were arrested in Visakhapatanam, East and West Godavari district when they tried to forcibly close the shops.
In the port city of Visakhapatanam the strike call evoked a mixed response. In Kadapa the CPI workers trying to stop the buses were taken into custody. The temple town of Tirupati was exempted from the strike as it had observed strike on Monday following the self-immolation of a Congress worker, Mani Koti.
State Congress president N Raghuveera Reddy who participated in the protest in Vijayawada, the commercial capital of the State, held the BJP Government at the Centre and TDP Government in the State responsible for not fulfilling the promise of granting special status to Andhra Pradesh. He said only special status could do justice to the State suffering from many problems following the bifurcation last year.
Meanwhile, Telugu Desam Party members of Parliament on Tuesday met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Home Minister Rajnath Singh and urged them to grant the special status to Andhra Pradesh in accordance with the AP State Reorganisation Act 2014. The MPs have also sought an appointment with Prime Minister Narendar Modi to raise the demand before him.
YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy, who on Monday had led a protest demonstration in New Delhi met on Tuesday with the family of Mani Koti who had committed self-immolation in protest against the denial of special status to Andhra Pradesh.
He said the Congress had irresponsibly divided Andhra Pradesh and now the BJP Government was committing the same mistake by not fulfilling the promise of special status.
“Centre has cheated the people of Andhra Pradesh,” he added.