YSRC bandh paralyses life in Seemandhra

With the Union Home ministry receiving information about a possible spurt in violence, 25 companies of additional Paramilitary forces were rushed to Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh. 

Additional forces will take up positions near party offices, houses of ministers and other people’s representatives belonging to the ruling party.

Meanwhile, normal life in Rayalaseema and coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh continues to be affected following a shutdown call given by YSR Congress party to protest the manner in which the bill for formation of separate Telangana state was passed in Lok Sabha. Seemandhra leaders of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) also called for a general strike.
The shutdown was total in Vijayawada, Guntur, Visakhapatnam, Ongole, Srikakulam, Kakinada, Rajahmundry, Nellore, Tirupati, Kadapa, Anantapur, Kurnool and other towns in Seemandhra.

Meanwhile, universities and other educational institutions in Seemandhra postponed various examinations in view of the shutdown. The Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada has postponed the examinations scheduled to be held here in view of bandh and a fresh schedule will be announced for it, JNTU register Prasad Rao said in a statement.

Shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed while buses of state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) remained off the roads in all 13 districts of Seemandhra. 

Activists of the two parties and others opposing state's bifurcation took to streets since early morning, laying siege to APSRTC depots and staging blockades on national and state highways by burning tyres. 

Protestors also burnt the effigies of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, BJP's prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.

The agitators said they burnt the effigies of BJP leaders for extending support to the passage of Telangana Bill in the Lok sabha.