Agitation intensifies

• Protests in front of houses of ministers & MLAs
• Nehru, Indira & Rajiv statues vandalised
• AU students fast enters third day

Visakhapatnam: The indefinite hunger strike by the Samaikyandhra student Joint Action Committee (JAC) leaders Lagudu Govind, Areti Mahesh, Kanta Rao and Chiranjeevi on the Andhra University campus entered the third day on Thursday. Anakapalli MP Sabbam Hari visited the fast camp. Some JAC activists and AU students demanded resignation of the Seemandhra MPs and MLAs.

Members of the JAC, led by State president Adari Kishore Kumar, raised slogans against the UPA government, AICC president Sonia Gandhi and APCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana. The police prevented the agitators’ attempt to block the varsity staff entry. Hundreds of agitators tried to burn Sonia Gandhi’s effigy at Waltair main road. They were prevented by the police. Instead, they took out a mock funeral.

Vizianagaram: The Samaikyandhra agitators organised a bandh and staged demonstrations. They laid siege to the house of Botcha Satyanarayana. Hundreds of buses were confined to RTC depots following the bandh. Many had cancelled their journeys thanks to the advance bandh call. The agitators attacked Ranjini and Siva Ranjini theatres. A large number of B. Tech students blocked the National Highway III near Jonnada and stage a ‘rasta roko’ demonstration, blocking traffic for three hours.

Srikakulam: Representatives of various student organisations, political parties and people’s organisations took out a huge rally and formed a human chain at Day and Night Junction. Leaders of the SJAC alleged that the State’s division was a part of the conspiracy to make AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi the Prime Minister. In Tekkali, the agitators staged a dharna in front of Union minister Killi Kriparani’s house.

Rajahmundry: Shops, business establishments and educational institutions were closed on the second day of the bandh. RTC buses were off the roads. Students raised slogans against the Congress party and TRS chief KCR. The agitators staged, dharnas, demonstrations and rallies as part of the intensified struggle.

Eluru: Students and representatives of traders and NGOs voluntarily took part in the bandh on its second day. Employees of RTC boycotted work. Rallies and demonstrations at various centres in the district marked the bandh.

Kurnool: Samaikyandhra supporters set fire to the statue of Rajiv Gandhi and beat with chappals flexies of Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and APCC chief. Kotla Sujatamma, wife Union minister Suryaprakash Reddy, joined the rally taken out by private educational institutions. Rayalaseema Parirakshana Samiti president Byreddy Rajasekhar Reddy extended support to the indefinite fast launched by educationist K V Subba Reddy. In Dhone the agitators stoned the house of minister Erasu Pratap Reddy.

Ongole: The SJAC leaders laid siege to the house of Union minister D Purandeswari demanding her resignation. In Chirala, leaders of Student JAC, Lorry Owners’ Association and Textile Merchants’ Association took out rallies and raised slogans opposing the State’s division. In Ongole students blocked the highway at Martur.

Anantapur: Activists of Samaikyandhra squatted on the railway track and obstructed trains after learning about the suicide of a pasenger. The police lathi-charged after the agitators didn’t budge from the spot. They retaliated by pelting stones.

Tirupati: Samaikyandhra protestors turned violent with agitators threw burning car tyres on roads to obstruct vehicles in the entire Chittoor district. They also demolished statues. The agitators exempted the Tirumala bound bus services from bandh. The turnout of pilgrims on Tirumala Hills and other sacred places was very low. The activists of Samaikya Rashtra Parirakshna Vedika, stormed the residences of Tirupati and Chittoor MPs and also the minister Galla Aruna Kumari’s residence in Karakambadi.

Nellore: The Samaikyandhra movement picked up momentum in the district on Thursday as educational institutions remained shut for the second day Students in large numbers squatted on the National Highway No. 5 on the outskirts of the city. Thousands of vehicles were stranded on the Chennai-Vijayawada route for more than two hours. The security was beefed up near the statues of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi at Kavali and Nellore.

Kadapa: Not even a single bus came out of the eight bus depots in the district on Thursday. Unidentified persons beat the statue of late Indira Gandhi with shoes and set it on fire after pouring kerosene. They raised slogans against Nehru’s family.

Guntur: Samaikyandhra protestors enforced bandh for the second consecutive day on Thursday. Three youths climbed cell towers in two different incidents in Guntur district. At Chintalapudi, two youth participating in agitation climbed the tower in an apparent bid to commit suicide. The JAC leaders rushed to the spot and persuaded them to come down. An activist of YSRCP, Kadiyala Srinu, climbed the cell tower demanding resignation of ministers and MPs in Tenali. Students of Acharya Nagarjuna University halted the counseling for the PGECET scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Thousands of students of private educational institutions took out a rally in the town.

Vijayawada: Leaders of various political parties who met here on Thursday under the political Joint Action Committee (JAC), resolved to intensify agitation against division of the State. They condemned the decision of the UPA and the Congress and demanded that the decision be reversed protecting the unity of the State.

Several leaders from Congress, YSRT Congress and Telugu Desam leaders and leaders of various JACs attended the meeting.