Bandh evokes peaceful response in AP

Amaravati: The Bharat Bandh, in protest against the controversial new farm legislation passed by the Centre, ended without any incident in Andhra Pradesh with the state government lending support by suspending the public transport bus services. Even the state Secretariat opened after 1 PM on Tuesday as the government did not arrange buses in the morning for the employees to reach Velagapudi. There was not much impact on normal life as the supporters of the bandh mostly confined their protests to bus stations and highways where traffic blockades were held.

Educational institutions, however, remained shut on the advice of the state government while banks and other Central government offices functioned normally. The Left parties took out protest marches in different towns of the state demanding that the Centre scrap the new farm laws that would benefit only the corporates and not the actual farmers. The Telugu Desam Party and the Congress too supported the bandh. TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu called for a national debate on the farm laws and wanted the Centre to build a consensus after deliberating with the farmers and the farmers associations. He said minimum support price should be made a statutory right for the farmers and not be at the mercy of someone.

The ruling YSR Congress, which was pushed on to the defensive as it supported the farm laws in Parliament, said it hoped a solution to the ongoing crisis would be found soon, particularly over the minimum support price issue. State Agriculture Minister K Kanna Babu, in a statement, said the YSRC supported the farm laws on the condition that they would not harm the farmers interests in any way.

We supported the new legislation only after the Centre gave a categorical assurance that MSP will be strictly implemented and that the farmers interests will be protected. We wish the talks between the Centre and the farmers' unions will soon bear fruit and solve the current crisis, Kanna Babu added.