Jallikattu-Style Protest By YSR Congress Thwarted

YSR Congress Party President and Leader of the Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, was prevented from leaving the airport where he went to take part in the Andhra Yuvatha Mouna Deeksha candle rally, demanding Special Status to Andhra Pradesh.

He was not allowed to move after alighting from a SpiceJet flight in which he flew from Hyderabad this afternoon. Later, Jagan, accompanied by the Party senior leader and Rajya Sabha member V Vijay Sai Reddy, Y V Subba Reddy, Ambati Rambabu, and others, staged a sit-in protesting the police action.

The situation in the city soon turned volatile as crowds started swelling up at the R K Beach where people tried to take out a candle rally in response to a social media call demanding Special Status. The police arrested scores of the protesters as they tried to enter from different points.

Popular parody actor Sampoornesh Babu, Producer-Director T Bharadwaja, and dozens of youth including men and women were taken into custody to prevent them from participating in the candlelight vigil, which was supposedly inspired by the recent Jallikattu protests in Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, the measures taken by the government to quench the agitation came in for criticism from several quarters. Lok Satta Party chief Jayaprakash Narayan condemned the repression unleashed on a "peaceful agitation".

The AP Congress, the Left, and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan also extended support to the agitation. Also, the Congress staged a dharna near the G V M C Gandhi statue, after which sections 144 and 30 were imposed throughout the city.