JOIN USTelugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu’s on Thursday refused to heed a request from the Delhi Police to end his indefinite fast on the Telangana issue which entered the fourth day. The Delhi Police asked him to end the protest saying his health was deteriorating.
Naidu refused to pay heed to the advice and continues with his protest at Andhra Bhavan.
Even as rival YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy was forcefully admitted to hospital in Hyderabad on the fifth day of his fast, speculation was rife among Naidu's supporters that he may also be evicted from the Andhra Bhavan premises here and taken to a hospital for treatment.
Senior Delhi police officials met Naidu in Andhra Bhavan and told him that government doctors have warned that his health may deteriorate. The officials urged him to get hospitalised. However, TDP leaders said that Naidu’s personal doctors have checked him and believe that his health condition is well under control.
On Wednesday, the Andhra administration had approached the Home Ministry seeking Naidu’s eviction from the Andhra Bhavan premises in Delhi as he was on an "unauthorised” protest, but the latter refused to entertain the plea.
Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Thursday quipped that Naidu's protest was “strange”. He said this was perhaps the first time that a former chief minister was holding a fast in the premises of a state guest house. Refusing to be drawn into the demand for Home Ministry intervention, he said the state should approach a civil court with a complaint of trespassing. "If there is a court order, then we can help," he said.
Naidu had some political visitors on Thursday including Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Congress MP R S Rao, who has submitted his resignation from the Lok Sabha, and yoga guru Ramdev. Badal said Naidu has contributed a lot for Andhra Pradesh and his fight is justified. “The Congress wants to divide people," he said. Rao said Naidu is fighting for a united Andhra Pradesh and so party politics should not be ascribed to his protest. His meeting with Naidu has triggered speculation about his joining the TDP.