Man climbs tower in Delhi to demand special status for Andhra Pradesh

A man, protesting against the Centre’s refusal to confer special category status to Andhra Pradesh, climbed a tower near the Metro Bhawan here on Friday to draw attention to the issue, police said.

The man from Andhra Pradesh, identified as Uma Mahesh Reddy held a banner that read, 'AP need special status (sic)'.

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“The man was there on the tower for quite some time but ultimately we managed to get him to come down,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Madhur Verma said.

The Delhi Fire Service received a call at 11:45 am and a fire tender was rushed to the spot immediatley, a senior official from the Delhi Fire Service said, adding that the man was finally convinced to climb down at 3:25 pm after officers reassured him that his demand would be conveyed to the PMO.

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Reddy, according to an official, is pursuing his LLB from the Osmania university in Hyderabad. He arrived in Delhi on July 25 and was staying with a friend in Paharganj.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had walked out of the NDA over the issue. Last week, the party moved a no-trust vote against the Centre in the Lok Sabha over the issue, but the move was defeated.