Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has begun with his day-long fast in Delhi on Monday, seeking special category status for the state and fulfilment of other commitments made by the Centre at the time of state's bifurcation.
Delhi: Andhra Pradesh CM and Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu begins his daylong hunger strike at Andhra Pradesh Bhawan. His hunger strike is against the central govt over the issue of special status to Andhra Pradesh. pic.twitter.com/UiLYgdysgl
— ANI (@ANI) February 11, 2019
A number of Opposition party leaders - including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal - are expected to extend their support to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief's fast at the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan.
Before beginning the fast, Naidu offered tributes to Matama Gandhi at Raj Ghat and to B R Ambedkar at Andhra Pradesh Bhavan.
A large number of protesters from Andhra Pradesh has already reached the national capital. The state government hired two special trains to ferry people to Delhi.
Naidu will also submit a memorandum to President Ram Nath Kovind on February 12.
The Chief Minister has participated in 'Dharma Porata Deeksha' in 11 districts of Andhra Pradesh so far.
Naidu has been trying to unite the opposition parties to take on the BJP in the general elections. Over the last three months, he has held a number of meetings with the opposition party leaders on forming an anti-BJP front.
In March last year, the TDP had pulled out of the NDA government over its refusal to grant a special status to Andhra Pradesh.
The party has been accusing the Narendra Modi government of not releasing enough funds for the Polavaram irrigation project, the Kadapa steel plant and Amravati, the under-construction ultra-modern state capital.
On June 2, 2014, Andhra Pradesh was split into two, and Hyderabad became the capital of the new state Telangana.
(With inputs from agencies)