Chandrababu Naidu begins day-long fast over special status to Andhra Pradesh
New Delhi, Feb 11: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu began a day-long fast here on Monday, demanding that the Centre grant special status to the state and fulfil all promises made before its bifurcation in 2014.
A number of Opposition party leaders - including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal - are expected to extend their support to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief's fast at the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan.
Before beginning the fast, Naidu offered tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat and to B R Ambedkar at Andhra Pradesh Bhavan.
A TDP delegation led by Naidu will submit a memorandum to President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday.
Naidu has been trying to unite the opposition parties to take on the BJP in the general elections. Over the last three months, he has held a number of meetings with the opposition party leaders on forming an anti-BJP front.
In March last year, the TDP had pulled out of the NDA government over its refusal to grant a special status to Andhra Pradesh.
The party has been accusing the Narendra Modi government of not releasing enough funds for the Polavaram irrigation project, the Kadapa steel plant and Amravati, the under-construction ultra-modern state capital.
On June 2, 2014, Andhra Pradesh was split into two, and Hyderabad became the capital of the new state Telangana.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
