After a complete shutdown in the Telangana region, YSR Congress and Telugu Desam Party called for a bandh in all the districts of Seemandhra in Andhra Pradesh on Friday.
YSRC chief Jaganmohan Reddy and TDP president Chandrababu Naidu jointly called for the bandh in coastal Andhra region to oppose the bifurcation of the state, which was approved by Union Cabinet.
According to PTI, 10,000 Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) buses in Seemandhra joined the strike and were off the streets. Markets and schools have been closed, leaving the roads deserted.
On Thursday night, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde announced that the Cabinet cleared the Bill to carve Telangana with 10 districts and form India's 29th state.
He also made it clear that the proposal to merge two districts of Rayalaseema region into the Telangana state, which would have divided an equal number of parliamentary and legislative seats among the two states and could have benefitted Congress in Lok Sabha elections, was never under consideration.
Within minutes of the announcement, Jagan asked government employees, workers and farmers to observe the bandh. The state police was placed on alert and additional security forces were deployed in areas of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. In Vijayawada, TDP MLA Devineni Umamaheswara Rao and his followers were reportedly taken into police custody for staging protests at Benz Circle against the Centre's decision.
The Telangana Bill will soon be sent to President Pranab Mukherjee for his approval and introduced in the ongoing Winter Session of the Parliament afterwards.
