By IANS
Hyderabad : Pressure from the Left and other opposition parties Sunday mounted on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy to resign following the killing of six communists in police firing in Khammam district.
A meeting of opposition parties demanded the resignation of the chief minister while top leaders of the Left parties warned that the incident would have "far-reaching repercussions".
Six Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) activists were killed and eight were injured when the police fired at protestors at Mudigonda, about 200 km from here, during Left-sponsored statewide protests seeking land for the poor.
CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechuri Sunday backed the demand by the state unit of the party for the chief minister's resignation. He told newsmen here that the Congress central leadership should take note of the strong public sentiment against the chief minister.
"The government can't be allowed to get away with this. This will have far-reaching repercussions on the political situation in the country," said Communist party of India (CPI) leader Gurudas Dasgupta after a meeting with CPI and CPI-M leaders.
The opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have backed the demand for the chief minister's resignation.
The situation remained tense in Khammam, which observed a shutdown called by Left parties Sunday.
Communist activists, parading the bodies of those killed in police firing in front of the district collector's office since Saturday evening, withdrew the protest Sunday after the government responded to some of their demands.
The protestors allowed bodies to be taken for post-mortem after the chief minister announced a compensation of Rs.500,000 each to the families of those killed.
He also promised a government job for one member of each of the bereaved family and houses for homeless families in the state.
The chief minister had Saturday ordered a judicial probe in the police firing, transferred the district superintendent of police and suspended the additional superintendent of police.
Home minister K. Jana Reddy, however, turned down the demand for booking of attempt to murder cases against the policemen.
TDP president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu Sunday visited Khammam and paid his respects to those killed in the firing. He demanded the immediate resignation of the chief minister.
He alleged that policemen used AK-47 rifles and Self Loading Rifles (SLRs) to fire at protestors.
"Never before in the history of the state have such sophisticated weapons been used against political activists," he said.
On Sunday, the two Left parties called for a shutdown in Khammam district. For the second consecutive day, life came to a standstill in Khammam, considered one of the strongholds of the Left parties.
Shops and business establishments remained closed and the state-owned road transport corporation suspended its bus services.
For nearly three months, the communist parties have been holding "bhooporatam" or land agitation in the state, demanding housing sites and land for poor.
Some Left activists encroached government and private lands at various places in the state, leading to clashes with the police.
Last week, they intensified the protests when top leaders of the parties launched an indefinite strike in Hyderabad. Late Friday, the police shifted the fasting leaders to a hospital.
The Congress government maintains that the protest by the Left parties is "unnecessary" as it has taken up a massive programme for construction of houses and distribution of surplus land among poor.
The CPI-M and CPI had fought the 2004 elections in the state in alliance with Congress. However, the CPI-M later distanced itself on the ground that the Congress government was resorting to "anti-people measures". The Left parties, especially CPI-M, later moved closer to the TDP.
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