Naidu to sit on hunger strike in Delhi today

The national capital will witness hectic Opposition activities this week with TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu sitting on a day-long fast on Monday and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee organising a two-day sit-in against the Narendra Modi-led BJP from Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Chief Minister Naidu will take a memorandum to President Ram Nath Kovind demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh, an issue on which he severed ties with the BJP-led NDA last year.

Several Opposition leaders are expected to visit him on Monday at Andhra Bhavan where he will be sitting on a protest. Leaders like AAP's Arvind Kejriwal, NCP's Sharad Pawar and other Opposition leaders will visit him. Christened 'Dharma Porata Deeksha' (Protest for Justice), Naidu will also be joined by his party MLAs, MLCs and MPs in the protest.

Naidu, who is attempting to bring Opposition parties along with others, will start his protest by a visit to Mahatma Gandhi's memorial Raj Ghat. Before starting the protest, he will garland the Ambedkar statue at Andhra Bhavan.

On Wednesday, Mamata will organise a protest public meeting in the capital where Naidu and Kejriwal are expected to attend. Trinamool Congress leaders said Mamata is coordinating with non-BJP parties for their leaders' participation in this protest.

The back-to-back protests by two regional party leaders are seen as an attempt by them to assert their position in the Opposition grouping.

Though at the national level both the parties are cooperating with the Congress, the scene at state levels is different. The Congress has said that it will not align with the TDP in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana while it will not have any truck with the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal.

The contours of the protests were initially discussed on February 1 when a section of Opposition leaders met at NCP chief Sharad Pawar's residence. Congress and the Left did not attend this meeting.