Agitators scale Kondareddy Buruju for united AP

The protagonists of united Andhra Pradesh scaled the landmark of the city Kondareddy Buruju on the eighth day of the agitation on Wednesday and hoisted the flag of the unified State atop the fort to mark their protest against the decision to divide the state to form separate Telangana. Members of Valmiki Sangham participated in the programme.

The doctors and the staff of the Government General Hospital here took out a massive rally from the hospital premises up to Raj Vihar centre demanding the continuation of the status quo. They formed a human chain and burnt down the effigy of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.Members of Bharat Swabhiman Trust and Patanjali Yoga Samiti organised mass yoga programme on the national highway near Venkata Ramana colony in the city.

Pattikonda MLA K E Prabhakar who launched relay hunger strike at the TDP district office here on Wednesday said that he had never seen such an intense agitation in his long political career. He said that every day the party members of one mandal in the limits of the Kurnool Parliamentary constituency would participate in the relay hunger strike till the decision to divide the state was withdrawn. He said that the Centre should immediately withdraw its decision keeping in view the public demand for a united state.

The MLA said that this was not an agitation launched by the political parties but it was people who come out in large numbers in protest. He warned that the agitation would take a severe turn if the decision was not withdrawn.
He condemned the statement of TRS leader Harish Rao that the political parties have been paying the agitators to participate in the agitation.

On the first day on Wednesday, the party members of Devanakonda mandal participated in the relay hunger strike along with MLA K E Prabhakar, district unit president Somisetti Venkateswarlu. Earlier, the TDP workers have taken out a motorcycle rally in the city. A large number of auto rickshaws and tractors have also taken out another rally in the city.

Eminent priest Telakapalli Raghuram Sarma conducted a homam under the aegis of Andhra Pradesh Survey Employees Association at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the city. The priest said that Lord Ganapati would drive away the hurdles and a homam was conducted for him, he would drive away hurdles for the united state. Subba Reddy, president of the association, said that they would preserve the unity of the state at any cost. “The homam was intended to convince Sonia Gandhi to change her mind.

Priest Raghuram Sarma said that he had also conducted Kartaveeryarjuna, Venkateswara, Narasimha, Sudarsana and Rudra yagams. At Srisailam, employees of AP Genco, Transco, Irrigation, Forest and non-gazetted officers, the traders and a large number of people took out a massive rally here on Wednesday. The rally, including motorcycles, passed through the mains streets holding placards demanding a united state.

The rally reached the relay hunger strike and raised slogans against the division of the state. AP NGO leaders Dasari Mallikarjuna Harinadh Babu, AP Genco employees Naik, Tirupataiah, Rajasekhar Babu, Prasad, Nageswara Rao, Jyoti Kumar, TDP leader M A Razaq, Seshu, Chittibabu, Manohar, Koteswara Rao, ANL Prasad, EE Jagadiswara Rao and others were present.

In Atmakuru, TDP headed by Shilpa Chakrapani Reddy organised rasta roko on Kurnool-Guntur highway disrupting the traffic for six hours up to five kms. TDP workers from five mandals participated in the rasta roko. Atmakuru Journalists joint action committee, various employees associations, educational institutions organised protest demonstrations.