A one-day strike called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Andhra Pradesh to focus on problems faced by farmers and weavers evoked partial response throughout the state Tuesday.
The shutdown was organised to protest against the "apathy" of the state government was partial in the state capital, in the neighbouring district of Ranga Reddy district and in coastal Andhra.
It drew a good response in Karimnagar, Warangal and some other parts of Telangana region as well as Anantapur and Chittoor in Rayalseema region.
Few buses plied while shops, banks, petrol pumps, cinema theatres and educational institutions remained closed in these districts.
Police arrested more than 1,000 BJP workers in different parts of the state when they resorted to violence and forced shops and business establishments to shut down.
About a dozen buses of the state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corp (APSRTC) were damaged.
In Hyderabad, BJP general secretary and former union minister Bandaru Dattatreya, party's state unit president N. Indrasena Reddy, party's floor leader in state assembly G. Kishan Reddy and others were arrested when they staged a sit-in before the state secretariat.
Talking to newsmen, Indrasena Reddy said more than 2,000 farmers and weavers had committed suicide since the Congress formed a government in May. He accused the government of pursuing "anti-people policies".
--Indo-Asian News Service