KCR plans fast-unto-death

Family worries over leaders fragile health; observers not in favour of fast

Senior party leader andChandrasekhar Rao ’s nephew T Harish Rao said the party is considering the proposal and the possible venue and date. It is believed that KCR wants to give a  “big push” to the ongoing agitation in the region by undertaking a “Hazare-like Deeksha.” He said the party will announce its decision within a couple of days.
Sources in the party said that two venues—Siddipet in Medak and Nizamabad—have been short-listed for the “deeksha.”

It is being felt that Nizamabad as venue would also help party candidate Pocharam Srinivas Reddy in the Banswada by-election. However, the family is concerned about the fragile health of the leader, who forced the UPA government to make the crucial announcement on Telangana through Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi.

The fast- unto- death by KCR who was fighting against the free zone issue in Siddipet snowballed into an agitation with the inept handling of the then chief minister, K Rosaiah.
Ironically, Rosaiah also lost his chief minister’s seat because of the Telangana agitation. KCR’s bold decision helped TRS candidates achieve thumping majorities in the following by-elections.

However, political observers point out that a hunger strike by a leader at this stage of agitation will be of no help.

“The agitation is now fully in the hands of the common man and has gone out of the hands of politicians. How about mass hunger strike with not less than one lakh agitators?” some of them ask. However, KCR made no mention of the fast unto death while addressing a Telangana Electricity Employees meeting near the state Secretariat.

KCR, in his tirade against Congress MLAs and MPs, gave a call not to spare Congress leaders and asked agitators to beat them to submission so that they would resign and create a crisis in the state.

Telugu Desam Party leader K Dayakar Reddy ridiculed the idea of KCR’s fast.