Barring some urban pockets, the State bandh called by the Telugu Desam Party to protest the arrest of party chief N. Chandrababu Naidu evoked poor to lukewarm response in the rural areas of the combined Chittoor and Kadapa districts on Monday.
Apart from imposing Section 144 and the Police Act 30, the police administration tackled the small number of TDP cadres enforcing the bandh even as a majority of the party leaders at the district, constituency, mandal, and village levels were kept under house arrests since Friday night.
In Chittoor, the TDP cadres hit the streets before dawn to enforce the bandh but were soon taken into custody and shifted to various police stations. Business establishments and private educational institutions voluntarily remained closed to avoid untoward incidents. The APSRTC bus station here looked deserted till 9.00 a.m., though the buses were operated as usual, but did not have occupancy till noon.
