Lukewarm response to bandh call by TDP in Andhra; Chandrababu Naidu to sit on 36-hour ‘deeksha’ from Oct 21

Several leaders belonging to the TDP were taken into preventive custody and many senior leaders were put under house arrest to thwart their attempts to participate in the bandh, TDP sources claimed.

TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu has decided to hold a 36-hour ‘deeksha’ (protest) at the party office from 8 am on Thursday in a bid to draw attention of the people to the ‘attacks’, Naidu’s son and the party’s general secretary Nara Lokesh told the media.

“Never before in Indian history, was a political party’s office attacked. The people should know about this,” Lokesh said.

A senior official of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation said bus services were not disrupted.

All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) national secretary B S Rambabu told PTI that there was no disruption to banking services in the state and all clearing houses functioned normally.

Ruling YSR Congress Party workers on Tuesday allegedly ransacked offices of the TDP at Mangalagiri, Visakhapatnam and other places, alleging that a spokesperson of the opposition party made objectionable comments against Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in a press conference.

TDP spokesperson K Pattabhi Ram, objecting to police notices to former minister Nakka Ananda Babu, allegedly made some remarks against Jagan.

Condemning the attacks, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu had called for a state-wide bandh today.

State Home Minister M Sucharitha, however, denied her party’s involvement in the attacks. Several YSRCP senior leaders and Ministers took exception to Pattabhi Ram’s remarks against Jagan.

TDP sources said Naidu is seeking an appointment with Union Home Minister Amit Shah to apprise him of the incidents.