Amaravati, April 14: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will observe a day-long fast on April 20 to protest the Narendra Modi-led Central government's refusal to grant special category status to the state.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President will be staging the protest on his 68th birthday to pressurise the Central government to fulfill all commitments made at the time of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.
His announcement on Saturday came close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's day-long huger strike on April 12 to protest disruption of Parliament.
"Is it not the central government which is responsible for Parliament not functioning smoothly," asked Naidu.
The second half of the budget session was washed out due to protest by various parties including the TDP, which sought to move no-confidence motion against the government after pulling out of BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Naidu's decision to sit on fast came amid ongoing protest by various political parties in the state against the Centre for not fulfilling its promises.
At a meeting in Guntur district on Saturday, Naidu said there would be no compromise on the state's rights.
He also announced that a massive public meeting would be organized at Tirupati on April 30 with the slogan "save the state from betrayal and conspiracy", recalling that it was in the same temple that four years ago, Modi, as the Prime Ministerial candidate, had promised special status but did not fulfill it after coming to power.
Lashing out both at the BJP and the opposition parties YSR Congress and Congress, Naidu appealed to people to ensure victory of TDP on all 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state. "Tomorrow, the government at the Centre will be decided by TDP," he said.
He recalled that TDP played a key role in government formation at the Centre in the past. "We played a key role in the National Front, United Front and NDA-1," he said.
The Chief Minister was speaking at a meeting at Sakhamuru in Guntur district after unveiling the model of Dr B.R Ambedkar memorial park, proposed to be built at a cost of Rs 100 crore on 20 acres. Naidu said 125-feet tall statue of Ambedkar will come up in the proposed park, which will also have a research centre. He vowed to complete the project in 18 months.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
