Bharat Bandh partial in Hyderabad, hits life in districts

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The Bharat Bandh sponsored by the Opposition parties evoked a mixed response in the state. While normal life in many districts came to a standstill, in other districts the bandh had only a partial impact.
In Hyderabad, normal life was not affected much. Some 1,587 people were arrested for setting up road blocks, conducting rallies, forcing shops to close and burning effigies etc.
In Nizamabad, Chittoor and Prakasam the bandh was partial. In rural areas, there was hardly a ripple but in the district headquarters it had an impact. In Nizamabad, all shops and other commercial establishments and educational institutions remained closed till evening and public transport was affected.

In Tirupati, devotees were exempted from the bandh, but normal life was affected. RTC plied services exclusively for the devotees while all other services were suspended. In Khammam and Godavari districts the bandh was peaceful and in Rayalseema districts it was partial.

Warangal district saw an almost total shutdown as Opposition parties united, forgetting their differences.

The shutdown was partial in Hyderabad as APSRTC ran most of its city buses with police protection. Shops and petrol bunks were open in many places.

At the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station in Hyderabad, police arrested CPM leader P. Madhu and dozens of other party activists for trying to stop buses from plying. Some bus services were affected because the bandh was more effective in the districts.

In the Hyderabad police commissionerate limits alone, 989 people were arrested as a preventive measure. According to the police, 313 of those arrested were BJP workers, 210 were from the Telugu Desam, 32 from the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, 212 from the CPI, 170 from the CPM, 34 from the YSR Congress and 18 from other parties.

As many as 598 people were arrested in connection with 27 cases in Cyberabad limits and only one specific case was booked for damaging an RTC bus in Kandukur, Ranga Reddy.