Normal life in Andhra Pradesh came to a standstill as several parties called for a strike on Tuesday protesting the rising power tariffs in the state
The shutdown mainly called by Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPI-M) was supported by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), YSR Congress Party and others.
The strike induced closure of markets, offices, educational institutions in major parts of the state. The worst affected were the people availing public transport.
Several buses of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) were stopped from plying on the roads.
Protest and rallies were witnessed in various parts of the state.
Caught in the bandh chaos, NDTV quoted an anxious civilian from Hyderabad as saying, "I really wonder who they think will be affected by targetting buses, shops, schools and colleges? Isn't it obvious? Is there not a better way of supporting the citizens."
Police arrested CPI State secretary K Narayana and CPI-M State secretary V Raghavalu for holding protests.
The opposition demanded a complete rollback of the hike despite Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy's assurance of no hike for consumers consuming up to 200 units of power.
Meanwhile, Hyderabad witnessed mixed response of the bandh.
Major official and business establishments reportedly remained closed in Visakhapatanam responding fully to the bandh.
Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Committee had decided to charge ₹6,173 crore from customers with effect from 1 April.
