Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu to observe hunger strike on April 20

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu will sit on a day-long hunger strike on April 20 demanding special category status for the state, reported news agency ANI.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief will silently protest against the BJP-led Centre over their demand of special status to Andhra Pradesh and implementation of the promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

On April 8, 19 TDP MPs protested outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg in New Delhi. All the 19 MPs were detained by the Delhi Police and were taken to the Tughlak Road Police Station.

However, the MPs were released after some time but were refused to carry march towards the PM house. One of the MPs, Jaydev Galla, said, “The prime minister is the person to take decisions on SCS. He has to fulfill his promises and that is why we want to raise our demands with him.”

CM Chandrababu Naidu, who launched many attacks on PM Modi, on April 7 said that he is playing with the state’s sentiments and warned him that AP will make him disappear from history.

“The Prime Minister is playing with the sentiments of Andhra Pradesh. If he continues doing so Andhra Pradesh will make him disappear from history soon,” Naidu said during a bicycle rally rally from Venkatayapalem village in Amaravati to the state legislative assembly at Velagapudi.

“PM Modi is underestimating the power of Telugu people. The BJP is trying to weaken the state, which will never happen. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi tried to topple the NTR government in 1984. Everybody knows what happened after that. If PM Modi plays with our sentiments. He will have to face the same,” he added.

Not only TDP but the Opposition also stepped up protest against BJP-led central government to demand special category status for Andhra Pradesh and implementation of the promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

Also Read: Centre always willing to give special package to Andhra Pradesh, says Arun Jaitley

The TDP chief also wrote a letter to BJP President Amit Shah informing him about the decision of quitting the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

In the letter, Naidu said the BJP government was not willing to implement the provisions in AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 despite the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s assurance of Special Category Status to the state.

Naidu accused the ruling party of not being “sensitive” towards the aspirations of the people of Andhra Pradesh and said, “We joined the alliance with an expectation that our people will get justice but when our being in the alliance doesn’t serve that purpose, we feel that it is pointless to continue.”

However, in the wake of the TDP's exit from the BJP-led NDA, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that the Centre was willing to give a special package equivalent to a Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh.

"We have been waiting endlessly for a response from Andhra Pradesh to resolve the special package issue," Jaitley said.