leader of Opposition in Andhra Pradesh Assembly and YSR Congress president YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Wednesday launched his indefinite hunger strike in Guntur district demanding special category status to Andhra Pradesh.
Several other leaders and party workers have joined him at the hunger strike camp.
Addressing a big crowd at his hunger strike camp at Nallapadu X Roads near Guntur Jaganmohan Reddy held both the BJP Government at the Centre and the Telugu Desam Government in the State for the non-implementation of promise of special status to the State.
Jagan said that he was forced to go on a hunger strike as his earlier protest including the Statewide strike and hunger strike at New Delhi had failed to make the Government budge on the issue. “Now the voice of this protest should be heard in New Delhi,” he said.
“If Chandrababu Naidu had put pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Centre would have definitely granted the special status,” he said. lashing out at the previous Congress Government, he said that because of the hasty decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh State, the Andhra region was deprived of precious resources and educational and job opportunities.
Jagan told the people that if the State gets the special status it will get a benefit to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore specially for the implementation of irrigation projects including Polavaram and also building the Metro Rail projects. “But if we don’t get the status, we will have to pay even interest on the foreign borrowings”, he said.