Telangana agitators on Thursday targeted the houses of elected representatives belonging to the Congress party for keeping away from the ongoing general strike. Police arrested leaders of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and other agitators, who tried to barge into houses of MLAs and ministers of the ruling party in several places.
The legislators of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), who had submitted their resignations yesterday, also came under attack when they tried to proceed to the Bhanswada constituency where the bye-election is being held due to the resignation of their former colleague who joined the TRS.
Police thwarted their plans after the protesters pelted stones on a bus carrying the TDP leaders, who are pressing for a poll boycott since former TDP leader Srinivas Reddy is seeking reelection on a TRS ticket from this constituency.
On the other hand, a heavy police force was deployed in the AP Secretariat on Thursday as the employees called for a bandh inside the Secretariat in support of their demand for Telangana.
Meanwhile, Union commerce minister Anand Sharma is expected to drop his scheduled visit to the city on account of Telangana bandh on Friday, He was to attend the Pharma Consultative Group meeting and the valedictory session of the ongoing business meet being organised by Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil).
Poor turnout at the CEO conclave has been reported as top officials of several pharma companies cancelled their visits owing to tomorrow's bandh. I-Spark , a Microsoft event aimed at supporting and fostering innovation within education, proposed to be held at the Hyderabad Public School on Friday, has also been cancelled.
The 17-day-old agitation for a separate statehood by pro-Telangana groups had resulted in a tangible loss of goods and services in excess of Rs 10,000 crore. The opportunity losses could be much higher, according to industry body, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham).
Assocham said that the general strike had led to frequent power outages.
“This has pushed up industrial costs by over 15 per cent and dented Andhra Pradesh’s image as a lucrative investment destination”.
Assocham general secretary, DS Rawat, said that sectors like IT/BPO, KPO, manufacturing, power and hospitality were the worst hit which might shake the overall business environment. “Such strikes could also result in massive job losses and social unrest”, Rawat said in a press release on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy had asked the director general of police to see that law and order and peace was maintained and violent activities were prevented all over the state, particularly in Hyderabad and its surroundings. Reddy wanted utilisation of modern equipment like CC TV cameras to detect the “mischievous elements and stringent action should be taken on such persons”.
As had been the case in the last 10 days, the state road transport corporation buses did not ply in Telangana, while educational institutions remained closed and official work in the region almost came to a standstill.
