Tense situation prevailed at Sivajipalem in the 22nd ward of Visakhapatnam on 16 November morning as pushcart vendors and petty traders stormed the house of Jana Sena corporator Peethala Murthy Yadav alleging him of targeting them.
The pushcart vendors have been up in arms against the corporator ever since he had moved the court and has been getting the carts removed from roads.
They complained that several petty traders have lost their livelihood after the GVMC staff removed their carts.
A woman trader even died of heart attack because of the corporator’s ‘vindictive’ attitude towards small vendors, they lamented.
On 15 November, the GVMC staff tried to remove pushcarts on the road near Kotak school. However, the small vendors resisted and did not allow the GVMC personnel to go ahead with their operation.
It triggered protest by the pushcart vendors who stormed the house of the corporator blaming him for the unrest.
“We made a big mistake by electing him as our ward corporator. Now, we repent,” they lamented and appealed to Jana Sena Party chief and Pawan Kalyan to do justice to them.
“The political downfall of the corporator began and he is sure to face the people’s ire,” they said.
Meanwhile, expressing solidarity with the pushcart vendors in Visakhapatnam, the local people joined hands with them and took part in the protest against Murthy Yadav.
It may be recalled here push carts and small shops of roadside vendors in the ward were removed by JCBs on 3 July following a directive by the High Court.
The High Court issued the orders following a complaint made by corporator. Over 500 families in the ward were affected by the drive.
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This article is written by Senior Journalist Lakkoju Nagesh Babu
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