The State-wide bandh called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has evoked a mixed response in the city and in other places even as reports of party president K. Laxman’s health has taken an alarming turn in the wake of his indefinite fast entering the fourth day on Thursday.
Several senior leaders of the party, including N. Ramchander and others like Congress leader V. Hanumantha Rao, Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti leader Manda Krishna Madiga, BC leader R. Krishnaiah, among others called on Mr. Laxman in his hospital room and enquired about this health.
The BJP State president reiterated his demand for justice to Intermediate students and despite deteriorating health he was not going to give up his fast.
Protest important
His protest became imperative considering the government’s adamant attitude on not taking any action on the persons and agencies responsible for the Intermediate results fiasco, he added.
Earlier, party activists came out on the streets in an attempt to enforce the bandh at bus stations, movie theatres and other places while senior leaders led by Bandaru Dattatreya, P. Muralidhar Rao and others staged a sit in on the secretariat road junction.
The police personnel were in full force at strategic places to precisely thwart the designs of the protestors and within no time lifted them and packed them off in vans to the police stations before being released later in the day. At several places, BJYM activists burnt effigies and courted arrest.
Traffic normal
Otherwise, traffic movement was almost normal in most of the thoroughfares as most offices functioned normally while a few educational institutions remained shut as a precautionary measure in the capital.
Later in the evening, senior leader N. Indrasena Reddy claimed the bandh to be a ‘grand success’ and that over 6,000 partymen across TS were arrested by the police. He criticised the government for being unmoved despite large-scale protests and charged the TRS government of being incapable of running the administration pointing out to Eamcet exam fiascos earlier.Reacting to TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao’s threat to file a defamation suit against the Opposition, Mr. Reddy dared him to order a probe to go into the entire exam tender so that the massive scam will come out.