‘No end in sight to stir’

• ‘Laksha Jana Garjana’ in Kadiri
• Samaikyandhra supporters lay siege to Kanna’s house; Raghuveera, Tulasi Reddy gheraoed
• Electricity dept employees threaten to cut off power supply to Seemandhra Union Ministers
• Students hold ‘Swararchana’ in Narasannapet
• Police foil TDP leader Hymavati’s fast
• Agitator kicks JVV chief Lakshmana Reddy
• Krishna dist. YSRCP calls for ‘jail bharo’
• Indefinite hunger strike by junior college lecturers from September 5

Hyderabad: On the 30th day of the Samaikyandhra agitation on Thursday, ‘Laksha Jana Garjana’ was organised at Kadiri, Anantapur district. People from 10 mandals took part in the programme, resulting in blockade of streets. Later, leaders of the SJAC and Visalandhra Mahasabha addressed the agitators.

Some Congress activists reacted angrily to comments of a Mahasabha leader Raviteja. However, the police intervened and warned the SJAC and Visalandhra members. Students and folk artistes presented cultural items at the meeting, explaining the problems that would arise in the wake of the State’s division and the district’s backwardness. In Anantapur, both government and private institutions as well as business establishments remain closed.

The Samaikyandhra supporters laid siege to the residence of minister Kanna Lakshminarayana in Guntur, demanding that he should resign from his post. Members of the Electricity Employees’ JAC in Visakhapatnam threatened to cut off power supply to the residences of the Seemandhra Union ministers if they failed to resign. At Narsannapet in Srikakulam district, about 10,000 students participated in a ‘Samaikyandhra Swararchana’ protest programme.

In Srikakulam, the municipal staff and members of the Teachers’ JAC staged a silent demonstration and formed a human chain, opposing the proposal for the State’s division. The four-day fast of Telugu Desam women’s wing president Shoba Hymavati at the NTR statue in Srungavarapukota, Vizianagaram district, was forcibly broken by the police on Thursday evening as her health condition deteriorated. She was shifted to a hospital.

Hymavati’s supporters tried to bring her back to the venue of the fast, alleging that facilities in the hospital were inadequate. They had heated arguments with the police and staged a dharna. In Kurnool, legislator Venkataswamy extended support to the ‘deeksha’ of former minister Katasani Rambhupal Reddy.

The agitators staged a dharna at Srisailam project, while blocking the entry of vehicles from Telangana. Employees of the Education, Employment, Labour and Transport departments organised a huge rally with about 500 vehicles. They burnt the effigies of Sonia Gandhi and KCR.

Lakshman Reddy, president of Jana Vignana Vedika (JVV), was kicked by an agitator, while protesters ‘gheraoed’ minister N Raghuveera Reddy and N Tulasi Reddy, chairman, 20-Point Programme. They were going to attend a function in Srikrishna temple. Revenue staff and dealers of fair price shops took out a ‘padayatra’ from the Sub-Collector’s office to Tallapaka at Rajampet in Kadapa district to register their protest against the State’s division.

Some teachers performed ‘sirsasanam’ near the Collectorate in Kakinada, opposing the Congress party’s decision on Telangana. The Samaikyandhra supporters extended their support to the second day’s fast of the youth at Sarpavaram. The Telugu Desam activists organised a ‘Chandi Yagam’ wishing to keep the State united. In Vijayawada, the staff of Kanakadurga Temple continued their relay fast. Students of Veda Patasala near Arandal Choultry, along with pandits and archakas, performed special pujas to press their demand for a unified State. YSRCP Krishna district convener Samineni Udayabhanu called for a ‘jail bharo’ protest on August 30.

At a meeting held at SRR and CVR Government College, the Inter Vidya Samaikyandhra Pairakshana Samiti (JAC), comprising the publicly- funded colleges’ staff from all 13 Seemandhra districts, decided to boycott classes and launch an indefinite hunger strike. The lecturers would go on fast from the midnight of September 5.