Uneasy calm prevails before silent protest

Vijayawada: An uneasy calm was prevailed in temporary capital city Vijayawada a few hours before silent protest demanding Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh with the determination of netizens and all Opposition parties to go ahead despite serious warnings from police.

However, in a meeting organised at Makineni Basavapunnaiah Bavan here on Wednesday in protest against the warnings of police and the State government, various political parties, including YSR Congress, Congress, Jana Sena, CPI, CPM, Aam Aadmi and several civil society organisations strongly condemned the statement made by the police department warning the youth, students and their parents on participating in silent protest.

Responding to the comments of Director General of Police (DGP) N Sambasiva Rao that there is no permission for any meetings related to SCS, Jana Sena media advisor P Hariprasad said no permission was needed to people to mark their protest in a democratic way and asserted that Jana Sena volunteers will not cowed down with the warnings of police officers.

He made it clear that Jana Sena cadres will participate in silent protests at the RK Beach in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati.

“We have a chose silent protest in Visakhapatnam to express the anguish of people of the State in a peaceful way. The State government is trying to suppress the voice of people on SCS issue, but will not succeed”, he said.

Vibhajana Hamila Sadana Samithi president Chalasani Srinivas said they would participate in protest in Visakhapatnam at any cost. He alleged that the State government had failed in achieving SCS despite support of all parties in Parliament.

Tight security
The police tightened security in the city and deploying additional forces to curb protests on the Republic Day and they are taking measures as Governor E S L Narasimhan has already been in the city to participate in the Republic Day celebrations.

On other hand, the Jana Sena leaders and protesters are also in search for alternative ways to mark their protest. A Jana Sena leader said they will stage a dharna at Dharna Chowk (Alankar centre) first and take a decision later depending on the situation.

Former minister Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao, former MLAs Malladi Vishnu (Congress), Jogi Ramesh, Vellampalli Srinivas (YSR Congress), CPM State secretary P Madhu, CPI leader D Sankar, AAP leader P Venkata Rama Rao and others extended their support to silent.

Congress party will stage protests at Mahatma Gandhi statues and other parties also planned their protests.