Kadapa town in Andhra Pradesh observed a bandh on Friday demanding setting up of a steel plant in the district as provided in the bifurcation Act that divided the Telugu-speaking state into two.
The bandh undertaken by the Opposition parties YSR Congress, CPI and CPI (M), coincided with the tenth day of the fast unto death by TDP Rajya Sabha member C M Ramesh.
The MP along with TDP local MLA Ravi undertook the fast in Kadapa demanding a steel industry for the district. However, police thwarted the fast of the MLA and admitted him to a hospital after his vital parameters dangerously dipped. Ramesh is continuing his fast.
Meanwhile, union steel minister Birender Singh spoke with the MP over the phone and urged him to end his fast and said the Centre would actively pursue the issue. The TDP MP, however, wanted a firm assurance from the union minister.
Addressing a public meeting at port city Kakinada, under the “Dharmaporata Deeksha”, Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu once again played Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s famous Tirupati public meeting video before the 2014 elections promising special category status for the state. “We have been cheated by the Prime Minister, who forgot the promises he made to the residual state. The Centre gave a meagre Rs 1,500 cr for Amaravati, with which we can’t even build a permanent High Court,” Naidu said. He said that the fight for securing the rights of AP would continue.
Buses blocked
In Kadapa, Opposition party workers made sure all the buses in eight APSRTC depots did not leave the depots from 4 am on Friday, affecting transportation from Kadapa to other places. All educational and commercial organisations remained closed. Communists burned the effigies of PM Modi in different places. The bandh was also observed in Rajampet, Mydukuru, Pulivendula, Jammalamadugu, Rayachoti and Prodduturu.
In Vijayawada BJP workers burnt a flag of TDP, causing a commotion.