Chandrababu Naidu to begin fast against AP bifurcation

Andhra Pradesh remains on edge as anti-Telangana forces have stepped up their protests. Shoot-at-sight orders are in place in curfew-bound Vizianagaram following arson and violence. A power crisis is now looming large as workers from the sector have joined the anti-Andhra Pradesh bifurcation protests.

Meanwhile, in the national capital, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu will begin his hunger strike on Monday. Naidu, who will arrive in Delhi on Monday morning, will also interact with the media before beginning his stir in the afternoon, according to a TDP release.

Naidu, whom observers say is now fighting a political battle for survival in the state of which he was once chief minister, has also accused Congress of entering into an "arrangement" with TRS and YSR Congress vis-a-vis the bifurcation decision.

The united Andhra Pradesh agitation continues to paralyse life with 15 trains cancelled, properties vandalised, curfew clamped in one district and a virtual shutdown in several other areas of Seemandhra.

Even as additional troops were called in and senior police officials camped in the Vizianagaram district to control the situation, YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy went ahead with his indefinite fast protesting the state bifurcation.

"This has happened to AP today and if we don't protest now, it can happen to any other state too as the Centre does whatever it feels like for votes," Jagan said. The Bharatiya Janata Party too lashed out at the Congress even as it supported the state bifurcation. "If in the country one needs to show an example of infighting, thus, leading to tension inside a state, the best example is Congress's Telangana affair," said BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The Joint Action Committee leading the united AP protest has threatened to intensify the agitation if the Centre doesn't consider a rollback. With thousands of electricity department employees threatening to boycott duties, an impending power shortage looms over the state.

AP Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has appealed to the employees to call off the strike as it will affect transportation, medical and domestic fronts. Clearly, the growing challenge for the state government now is not just law and order but also maintaining essential services.