Shutdown paralyses normal life in Visakhapatnam

An anti-bifurcation shutdown paralysed normal life in parts of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday, soon after the Union Cabinet approved a bill to create a new state of Telangana.

Vehicles remained off the road, while shops and other establishments remained shut in this port city.

The YSR Congress Party assailed the bifurcation of the state and had called for a total shutdown.

Schools, banks and business establishments remained shut.

In July, the Congress party approved the creation of a new Telangana state, which had raised fears of violence in the area, home to global firms, including Google.

The decision to break up Andhra Pradesh and establish a new state of Telangana comes ahead of elections next year and critics say the ruling party is seeking to shore up its political fortunes after dragging its feet over the explosive issue for four decades.

Supporters, however, say Telangana's economic development has been neglected in favour of the richer and more powerful Andhra region, and that a new state is the only solution.

Hyderabad, India's sixth largest city, was a bone of contention because it fell in the proposed new state carved out of the western part of Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh first came into existence after a hunger strike. Potti Sriramulu, a follower of revered freedom fighter, Mahatma Gandhi, died in 1952 after a two-month fast for the creation of the state.