Erasu’s love for Rayala T flayed

Students of the joint action committee took strong exception to the statement by Minister for Law and Justice Erasu Pratap Reddy in favour of Rayala Telangana to merge Kurnool and Anantapuram with Telangana. To mark their protest, the students sent a saree, bangles, turmeric and kumkum to Minister Erasu Pratap Reddy on Tuesday. Lambasting the minister for not joining the agitation, the student leaders said that the minister was enacting drama keeping the resignation letter in his pocket instead of submitting the same to the Speaker of Lok Sabha. One of the students presented the saree, bangles and other items in a plate and placed them before the house of the minister. The agitation has been gaining momentum day by day in Srisailam constituency.

In the district headquarters of Kurnool city, dharnas, rallies, rasta rokos ruled the roost and people thronged various places including the Collectorate, Telugu Talli statue, Five Roads Centre, statue of Srikrishna Devarayalu and Chennamma Circle in the city. Members of Jalamandali locked their office and demonstrated their protest.

Employees of Government Printing Press, Zila Parishat office continued relay hunger strikes on Tuesday also. On the 21st day continuously, not a single RTC plied on the road and the RTC employees expressed their solidarity by undertaking relay hunger strike and some other RTC employees played various games to express their protest. The relay hunger strike launched by the activists of the TDP and the Congress separately has entered 16th day and the relay hunger strike by advocates has entered 20th day.

Employees of SC,ST,BC, Welfare Bhavan, Electricity department raised slogans for a united state in their offices respectively. INDEFINITE HUNGER STRIKE: The indefinite hunger strike launched by YSR Congress leader SV Mohan Reddy entered the second day on Tuesday. A number of students from the city expressed their solidarity to the fasting leader.

Addressing the meeting, Mohan Reddy said that while workers, farmers, employees, advocates and even children have been agitating for a united State, the ministers remained at home without submitting resignations to their posts. The Educational institutions JAC leader Kattamanchi Janardhan Reddy said that due to the unethical leadership the situation has deteriorated. He said that one lakh people would raise their voice collectively on August 22 to prove that the agitation for a united state belonged to people. He appealed to the students and people to participate in the programme in large numbers to raise their voice in unison.

The members of joint action committee played shuttle badminton on the Kurnool-Guntur highway on Tuesday.

Leaders of Telugu Desam and YSR Congress launched relay hunger strikes separately demanding the withdrawal of decision to divide the state.

Nandikotkuru former MLA Gouru Charitha Reddy exhorted the employees to continue their struggle until the decision to divide the state was withdrawn. Addressing the municipal employees who have been on indefinite hunger strike at the municipal office, the YSR Congress leader said that the leaders, who kept mum when Dr YSR was alive, were not raising their voice for separate state colluding with the Congress leaders.

She flayed the chief minister for issuing the GO No 72 which was detrimental to the interests of the Rayalaseema region.

The agitators pelted stones at two vehicles breaking their windshields at Nandikotkuru MRO office. Panyam MLA Katasani Rambhupal Reddy expressing support to the agitating people of Rayalaseema, said that people of Rayalaseema would be the worst hit if Telangana was formed. The employees JAC have been staging demonstrations differently on each day for the last 20 days.

Kurnool district JAC leaders organised rasta roko on national highways on Tuesday. The Panyam MLA also participated in the rasta roko. At DHONE, people from neighbouring villages converged here and staged demonstration on the national highway demanding a united Andhra Pradesh. They raised slogans against the decision to divide the state. “We want only united Andhra Pradesh, not Rayalaseema Telangana nor Telangana,” they said.

Women employees of Electricity department participated in the relay hunger strike on the second day organised by the electricity JAC. Private educational institutions’ president and JAC leader Venugopal who led a rally of 5000 students from MEO office to the statue of Potti Sreeramulu, said that it would be students who would suffer most in the event of the bifurcation of the state. Private schools association secretary Ramakrsihna said that there would be no water for irrigation to the fields and no electricity for houses.