Hyderabad, December 20: The ‘‘Unified Andhra Pradesh’’ movement seems to be picking up steam in the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.
At several places, police forcibly shifting fasting leaders to hospital faced stiff resistance.
Trains were stopped in Kadapa, Guntakal and Guntur but except for a few minor incidents, the bandh being observed passed off peacefully in the two regions where the APSRTC had withdrawn all its services.
TDP legislators Devineni Umamaheswara Rao and other fasting leaders have been taken to hospital.
In Vijayawada, Congress MP L Rajagopal was shifted in the early hours — amidst protests and resistance — to the Government Hospital, where he refused to take treatment.
Later, based on his request he was shifted back to the hunger strike camp and was kept in a 108 Ambulance. Meanwhile, the State Human Rights Commission had asked the government to take Rajagopal to the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad.
However, fearing a law and order problem, the government is making efforts to shift Rajagopal to the Guntur Government hospital and if need be send a team of specialists from NIMS to Guntur.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that Rajagopal has written to the Chief Secretary requesting that he be shifted to NIMS.
Kadapa town witnessed tense moments when the police shifted MLC YS Vivekananda Reddy and others from their hunger strike camp. Though Vivekananda Reddy was shifted to the Government Hospital, he too refused take treatment. He may be brought to NIMS here. Protesting against his arrest, supporters began ransacking shops and offices.
In Visakhapatnam, PRP president Chiranjeevi visited students admitted to KG Hospital and later went to the hunger strike camp and voiced solidarity with ‘‘Unified Andhra Pradesh’’. Union Minister of State for Human Resources D Purandeswari also visited the AU campus and the hunger strike camps put up by the Congress leaders. She reiterated that only through consensus would the Centre resolve the issue.
Meanwhile, the bus yatra of the TDP leaders in Rayalaseema region reached Guntakal today with leaders P Keshav, G Muddukrishnama Naidu and others urging government employees to launch ‘‘pen down’’ and the police ‘‘gun down’’ strikes to paralyse the government.
Protests, rallies and rasta rokos were also witnessed across other districts in Andhra and Rayalaseema.
—Agencies