Hyderabad,
May 31: Road transport services in Andhra Pradesh came to a halt as the
opposition-sponsored daylong shutdown to protest the steep hike in
petrol prices evoked wide response across the state.
The
shutdown was partial in Hyderabad but was near total in the districts.
Buses of state-run Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation
(APSRTC) and auto-rickshaws went off the roads while shops, petrol
bunks, business establishments and educational institutions remained
closed.
Police said the protest has been peaceful.
The nationwide shutdown has been called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as the Left parties.
In
Andhra Pradesh, the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Telangana
Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and YSR Congress Party were also supporting the
shutdown to demand rollback of the petrol price hike.
In
a rare show of unity, political rivals joined hands to protest the
price hike. At many places, workers of the BJP, TDP, CPI and CPI-M were
seen together stopping buses or staging road blockades.
Majority
of the APSRTC buses remained confined to depots as the protestors did
not allow authorities to take them out. They sat in front of the depots
since early morning. Holding their party flags and raising
anti-government slogans, they laid siege to the depots.
The
shutdown was partial in Hyderabad as APSRTC was running most of the
city buses with police protection. Shops and petrol bunks were also open
in many places.
At
the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station in Hyderabad, police arrested CPI-M
leader P. Madhu and dozens of other party activists for trying to stop
the buses. Though police claimed that the buses were plying normally,
services were affected because of the total impact of the strike in
districts.
Police
arrested dozens of leaders and workers of opposition parties for
staging protests at bus depots and for blocking the roads. In Khammam,
protestors damaged a bus. At few places, they deflated the tyres of
buses and auto-rickshaws.
Except
the ruling Congress party, the activists of all parties blocked a
highway in Kadapa district, leading to massive traffic jam. The
opposition parties took out rallies and staged protests in Kadapa,
Anantapur, Tirupati and other parts of Rayalaseema region.
In
coastal Andhra, the shutdown evoked good response with the TDP and Left
activists not allowing buses to leave the depots. The shutdown
paralysed transport services in coastal city of Visakhapatnam,
Vijayawada, Guntur and other towns. Shops and business establishments
also remained closed in most of the towns in the region.
With the TRS also joining the protest in Telangana, the shutdown was total in the region, except in Hyderabad.
The
protest in Andhra Pradesh is significant as the petrol price in the
state is one of the highest in the country. The state levies 33 percent
Value Added Tax (VAT) on petroleum products, the highest in the country.
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