Bandh was observed on Friday in the coastal districts and Rayalaseema area of Andhra Pradesh to protest against the Union Cabinet’s decision to form the Telangana. It was largely peacefulbarring a few stray incidents.
State Government APSRTC staff are on an indefinite strike and therefore their offices did not function. Public sector and private banks were closed for the day; schools and shops also remained closed. Protest demonstrations were staged in the coastal towns and Rayalaseema and traffic was blocked on the highways and interior roads. At Vizianagaram, agitators laid seige to the house of B. Satyanarayana, the AP Congress President. The police used tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. At Srikakulam and Rajahmundry, Congress offices were set on fire.
The bandh was total in Kakinada, the constituency represented by Union HRD Minister, M.M Pallam Raju. Operations at the Kakinada anchorage port were stalled. Pallam Raju, who resigned in protest against the decision of the Union Cabinet, said he had argued against the formation of the Telangana State in a hurry.
V. Arun Kumar, the Congress member of the Lok Sabha from Rajahmundry, who had earlier submitted his resignation as MP, also quit the Congress party.