HYDERABAD: Expressing solidarity with farmers agitating for repeal of farm laws in Delhi and supporting their Bharat Bandh call, the TRS on Tuesday threw its weight behind them, paralysing mainly transportation on national highways, and forcing closure of shops and establishments in some parts of Hyderabad and elsewhere in the State.
The bandh led to long queues of trucks, buses and other vehicles on the national highways which lead to Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Nagpur. As the day progressed, scores of TRS workers led by party working president and IT Minister KT Rama Rao, MLC K Kavitha, Finance Minister T Harish Rao organised demonstrations, calling out the Centre for bringing forth the farm laws that hurt the interests of the farmers.
The Congress also organised protests and demonstrations but it did it independently with TPCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy leading the protests against the Centre. The BJP, meanwhile, described the government-sponsored bandh as a sham and said that it was a total failure. The BJP leaders accused Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao of shedding crocodile tears for farmers in a desperate attempt to enlist their support to further his political interests.
At some places, TRS activists forced closure of shops much before 11 am, the time given by farmers for the commencement of the agitation. When a commoner questioned the same, TRS MLA Arekapudi Gandhi was seen pushing him back, and taking the cue, his henchmen roughed the man up and shooed him away from the area.
Taking serious exception to the manhandling, BJP MP Dharmapuri Arvind said that “he is Arekapudi Gandhi Serilingampally, TRS MLA”, implying that he does not have any of the traits of the Apostle of Peace. “Arekapudi Gandhi and his men were seen thrashing a ‘common man’ for questioning the need to block roads and inconvenience caused to people.”
“The hooliganism of TRS government was in brazen display. The TRS workers ransacked shops of small vendors, abusing and threatening them for opening shops,” he added.In Kukatpally Housing Board Colony (KPHB), TRS party workers walked into the Metro rail station and stopped the movement of trains for a few minutes. However, they left the place after Metro rail officials reached the spot and made a request.
In Shahpur Nagar, the TRS party activists conducted a bike rally. The activists visited every business establishment and forcibly closed them. It was reported that the activists barged into a business establishment at Shahpur and asked the staff to leave the place before they themselves downed the shutters.
BJP workers staged protests at Malakpet after the TRS activists entered a hotel and assaulted the owner for opening his business establishment, damaged furniture and threw cookery vessels out of the hotel. Later, the hotel owner and BJP workers lodged a complaint with police and staged a protest at Malakpet police station.
The BJP leaders slammed the TRS for forcing closure of shops though the farmers had given a call for a voluntary bandh.Meanwhile, TPCC working president Ponnam Prabhakar and other Congress leaders prevented the TRS activists from participating in an all-party Dharna at Karimnagar bus stand. “The TRS which failed to provide Rs 2,500 per quintal to sanna biyyam (fine variety rice) has no right to participate in the farmers’ agitation,” Prabhakar said.
Leading the protestors on Bengaluru National Highway near Shadnagar, TRS working president KT Rama Rao declared that his party would continue the fight against the anti-farm laws of Narendra Modi government.
Stating that the stock limit under the ‘Essentials Commodities Act’, which was set up to prevent the black market, had been amended in the new laws, he said that now there is a risk of traders creating artificial shortages and inflating prices. “This is detrimental to both farmers and the consumers,” he said.
All the Ministers and the ruling TRS MLAS participated in the protests across the State as part of Bharat Bandh. Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy organised a huge tractor rally on Hyderabad-Vijayawada National Highway. Finance Minister T Harish Rao participated in the road blockade at Toopran junction. MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha participated in a massive protest at Tekriyal village on National Highway 44 in Kamareddy.
It’s a sham, total failure, says BJP
The BJP leaders described the govt-sponsored bandh as a sham and said that it was a total failure. They accused CM KCR of shedding crocodile tears for political gains
Man forced to take ailing mom to hospital on bike
Hyderabad: The Bharat Bandh on Tuesday disrupted traffic in several parts of the city, impacting emergency services and delaying commuters headed to the airport. It took Sai Teja, a resident of Kukatpally, nearly three hours to shift his ailing mother to hospital as two ambulances could not reach his residence due to traffic jams. Ultimately, he had to take his mother to hospital on a bike. The IT professional later contacted the Cyberabad Police, who sent in their vehicle to assist him. Narrating his ordeal on Twitter, Teja posted: “My mother, who is suffering from anaemia, had to be rushed to hospital as she was fainting. But due to the Bharat Bandh, ambulance services were delayed. Now, I am forced to take her on the bike.” He further noted that several ambulance services were hit