Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu launched a day-long fast in the National Capital demanding special category status for his state. He began the ”Dharma Porata Deeksha” (a day-long protest for justice) at 8 AM on February 11, 2019, in the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan to urge the Centre to fulfill all the assurances given during the time of state’s bifurcation in 2014. Before the commencement of the protest, the TDP chief paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat and the Ambedkar Statue at the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan. According to the party sources, a TDP delegation led by Naidu will submit a memorandum to President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday i.e. February 12, 2019.
The TDP president berated the BJP-led central government by alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not following ”raj dharma” by denying the state special status to the state of Andhra Pradesh. “On behalf of five crore people, I’m warning this government .. I came here to remind you of the promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act,” he said.
Naidu also added, “If you won’t fulfill our demands, we know how to get them fulfilled. This is about self-respect of people of Andhra Pradesh. Whenever there is an attack on our self-respect, we won’t tolerate it. I am warning this government and particularly the PM to stop attacking an individual,”.
The protest turned into a rallying point for several Opposition leaders like Congress president Rahul Gandhi, National Congress chairperson Farooq Abdullah, NCP’s Majeed Memon, Trinamool Congress’s Derek O’ Brien, DMK’s Tiruchi Siva and Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, who visited the venue of the fast to extend their support to Mr Naidu. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also arrived at the Andhra Pradesh Bhawan to join Naidu’s protest against the Centre.
“The prime minister has stolen from the people from Andhra Pradesh and he has given that money to Anil Ambani. That is the fact of the matter,” in an obvious reference to the contentious Rafale deal Congress president Rahul Gandhi verbally attacked Prime Minister at the protest venue. He went on to say that Mr. Modi has no credibility left and lies wherever he goes.
While Derek O’Brien recalled PM’s speech in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, on February 10, where he personally attacked the chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu by saying that Mr. Naidu was indeed a senior, but only in losing elections, switching alliances and ditching his father-in-law NT Rama Rao.
Brien said that the PM instead of talking about development or special category status “started a personal attack“. “Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones at others,” he said.
Adding to the chorus of criticism the National Congress chairperson Farooq Abdullah said, “Modi has stooped so low, he’s making personal attacks against Naidu, who is doing a great service to the country”. “The Jammu-Srinagar highway is closed for six days. They cannot clear the 30-km road, but they want to rule the country,” he added.
Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also arrived at the venue and launched a scathing attack on the Prime Minister and said that the way he treats state governments run by non-BJP parties, it seems as if he is the Prime Minister of Pakistan. “It is unfortunate that the Chief Minister and thousands of people from Andhra have to demonstrate here for special status for the state. This poses a big question on the country’s federal structure,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was also on a dharna from February 3 to 5 to “save the Constitution“, also extended support to her Andhra Pradesh counterpart. A senior Trinamool Congress leader was quoted as saying “Our party chief Mamata Banerjee has expressed her support towards Chandrababu Naidu’s hunger strike. She asked our party leader Derek O’Brien to visit Naidu at the venue of the hunger strike and express solidarity. The opposition stands united in the fight against the Modi government,”.
The TDP had walked out of the BJP-led NDA, its ally of four years, in March 2018 protesting the “injustice” done to Andhra Pradesh post-bifurcation, when the state of Telangana was carved out in 2014.
Earlier also on the occasion of his birthday on April 20, 2018, Naidu had observed a fast in Vijayawada demanding special status for his state. Since then he has emerged as one of the leading Opposition Leaders. He has also been trying to unite the Opposition parties against the BJP in the upcoming general elections. He has held a number of meetings with the opposition party leaders on forming an anti-BJP front, over the past three months.