Naidu to fast on b'day to expose Modi's betrayal

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu will celebrate his birthday on April 20 by eating nothing.

He has planned a day-long hunger strike at Amaravati in protest against the injustice meted out to the state by the NDA government at the Centre. He has been demanding special category status for the newly formed state.

Naidu's announcement came in the wake of the day-long fast observed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 12 in protest against the recent washout of the budget session of Parliament.  Naidu said, at a public meeting after unveiling the model of Ambedkar memorial garden proposed at Sakhamuru in Guntur district on Saturday,   that his fast is to protest the betrayal of faith by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demand the fulfilment of the promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act.

Conspiracy

"The Prime Minister took up one-day fast though he was responsible for the logjam. But I am going to take up the fast for the rights of the state and there will be no compromise," he said seeking people's support. "Modi is junior to me in politics. I became chief minister in 1995 and Modi in 2002. Now, he is resorting to conspiracy to weaken the state by colluding with YSR Congress party," he said.

The chief minister also wanted people to elect TDP MPs in the ensuing general elections to help him install a government at the Centre which is sympathetic to AP's problems. "There is no doubt that the TDP is going to dictate terms to Delhi after the 2019 elections. The TDP will win 25 MP seats and we shall show our power in Delhi. We steered national politics in the past and we are going to do it again after 2019," he asserted.

He said there will be a massive public meeting in the temple town of Tirupati on April 30 to explain to the people how Modi had betrayed his promise to help the state.