The 48-hour Seemandhra bandh called by the TDP, YSRCP and employees organisations in protest against the Union Cabinet’s approval of the draft Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation bill, passed off peacefully on on Friday.
The bandh effect was total in Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, twin Godavari districts and four Rayalaseema districts, but was partial in North coastal districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts. The bandh effect was also partial in the temple town of Tirupati.
RTC buses were off the roads in all Rayalaseema districts, which saw pilgrims visiting Tirumala, Srisailam, Mahanandi and other places in the region subjected to inconvenience. All educational institutions, banks and commercial establishments were closed. Rasta rokos were staged at different places along the national highways crisscrossing the region.
Tension prevailed for some time at Sri Krishnadevaraya University in Anantapur district when police tried to forcefully evacuate hostellers as a precautionary measure and finally succeeded.
Though buses were off the road in Chittoor district, bus services to Tirumala from Tirupati remained unaffected.
TDP MLA Devineni Umamaheswara Rao and his men were arrested when they tried to block the roads in Vijayawada. Mild tension prevailed in the city when TDP leader D Chandrasekhar and YSRC leader V Radkhakrishna along with their men tried to stage protests and counter protests. Police intervened and arrested both the leaders. Protest rallies were also taken out in Machilipatnam, Guntur, Prakasam, East and West Godavari districts.
In Visakhapatnam, protestors staged sit-ins at some bus depots disrupting services, but most of the bus services operated as usual. Following warnings from police, students of Andhra University limited their protests to the varsity campus. Various exams scheduled on Friday and Saturday were postponed.
Though school and banks remained closed, commercial establishments including cinemas were closed for few hours and it was business as usual thereafter.