The Hindu Business Line : Bandh hits normal life in coastal AP, Rayalaseema

Bandh in protest against the proposal to grant Statehood to Telangana affected normal life in many towns in coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema on Monday. The bandh call was given by the joint action committee for Samaikhyaandhra (United Andhra Pradesh).

In Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Kakinada and other towns, shops and banks were closed. The APSRTC cancelled bus services. Cinema halls also cancelled the morning and matinee shows in many places.

No major incidents were reported and the bandh was largely peaceful. The JAC in the coastal regions as well as Rayalaseema gave a call for “rail roko” on Tuesday as the talks on the Telangana issue are to be held in New Delhi on Tuesday. The representatives of the eight recognised parties in the State – the Congress, the Telugu Desam, the Praja Rajyam, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the CPI, CPM, the BJP and the Majlis Party – are participating in the New Delhi talks.

However, there is widespread scepticism on the likely outcome of the New Delhi talks tomorrow, as no specific agenda has been fixed by the Union Government for the purpose. Mr C.S. Rao, senior (retired) bureaucrat and President of Praja Spandana here, who served in key positions in the State and also at the central level in the planning commission, is of the view that it should not be impossible even at this juncture to arrive at a power-sharing formula politically.

“But what is more important than that is to revive the regional boards for all the four regions in AP and empower them so as to remove regional imbalances. The Gadgil formula should be followed in plan allocations and the emphasis should be on decentralisation,” he said.

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