Thousands of commuters and vehicles were stranded and inter-state travel hit in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday, with opposition calling for a “national highway blockade” in support of its demand for a special status for the state. The Pratyeka Hoda Vibhajana Hameela Sadhana Samithi (committee to achieve special category status and promises made in bifurcation act) is an umbrella grouping of the YSR Congress, Congress, Jana Sena and Left parties. JAC members blocked all crossings on all major highways including the Chennai-Kolkata, Visakhapatnam-Raipur, Vijayawada-Hyderabad and Hyderabad-Bengaluru highway. Naidu, who faces election in 2019, quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance a week ago in protest against the Centre’s failure to accord special status to Andhra, a promise that was made when Telangana state was carved out of its northern areas in 2014. The Centre has ruled out special status that would have allowed Andhra a greater share of aid from the Union government, which says the state has been compensated adequately.

Source: Hindustan Times March 22, 2018 11:15 UTC