Left-TDP’s bandh affects normal life in AP

The bandh called by Telugu Desam and Left parties against the government’s failure to check price rise badly affected normal life in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday.

Leaders and activists of the opposition parties held demonstrations in towns and villages across the State and also staged sit-in in front of depots of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC).

Passengers had a tough time as APSRTC suspended its services in cities including Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and also in several other districts.

Shops and other business establishments remained closed at various places in the state, while the educational institutions were on vacation.

CPI state secretary K Narayana and CPI(M) State secretary B V Raghavulu led the protest at the busy RTC Cross Roads Junction in Hyderabad, bringing traffic to a grinding halt.

Police took the two leaders and scores of Left activists into custody and shifted them to the police station at Gosha Mahal locality. Telugu Desam Chief N Chandrababu Naidu met the Left leaders there.

Failure of the Congress governments at the Centre and in Andhra Pradesh to keep the prices of essential commodities under control has made life difficult for common people, Mr. Naidu alleged.

Left activists court arrest

About 600 workers of CPI and CPI (M) courted arrest near the office of the Accountant General here on Thursday as part of a nationwide programme organised by four Left parties – CPI, CPI (M), Revolutionary Socialist Party and Forward Bloc – against price rise.

Similar demonstrations by CPI and CPI (M) activists also took place near Collectorates in various district headquarters. Their attempts to storm the complexes were thwarted by police but they managed to hold up a train in Kurnool.

The State secretaries of CPI and CPI (M), K. Narayana and B.V. Raghavulu respectively were in the crowd that was picked up by police when it tried to gatecrash into the office of the Accountant General.