Left parties call for Andhra bandh to protest Union Budget

The Left parties in Andhra Pradesh called for a shutdown on Thursday to protest the Union Budget that was introduced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on February 1.

At least 1300 Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) buses were stopped in Visakhapatnam during the bandh. All private and government schools declared a holiday in view of the bandh.

The parties also blocked the traffic movement on NH16, the main highway which connects Chennai with Kolkata.

Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party also supported the bandh and took to the streets with national flags and party flags to protest.

"Janasena supports tomorrow's Bandh call given by AP political parties. But Janasena cadre should confine to only peaceful protest without inconveniencing public.The purpose of Bandh is to express people's pain to centre and state Govt," Kalyan tweeted on Wednesday.

The Congress party and Jagan Reddy's YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) also participated in the Bandh.

The police were seen giving protection to the supporters at Maddilapalem junction in Visakhapatnam.

Meanwhile, the MPs belonging to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) continued their protest outside the Parliament House for the 4th day, alleging that the government did injustice in allocating funds to the southern state in the Budget 2018-19.

On Wednesday, while addressing the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi blamed the Congress party for 'hastily' dividing Andhra Pradesh.

It was for the first time that Prime Minister Modi had spoken, albeit indirectly, on the ongoing tussle with the TDP, which is an important ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).