By IANS,
Hyderabad : Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu Friday night broke his eight-day-old fast following an appeal by leaders of eight friendly parties.
With the state government rejecting all his demands for relief to farmers who lost their crops in recent rains and Naidu continuing his indefinite fast despite doctors forcibly giving him intravenous fluids Thursday night, the leaders of various national and regional parties flew in to make a personal appeal to Naidu.
The leader of opposition ended his fast by drinking coconut water in the presence of Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat, Communist Party of India leader A.B. Bardhan, Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh and others.
The leaders offered the coconut water to Naidu in the intensive care unit of Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), where he was brought Monday after being arrested by the police.
Bardhan later told reporters that they would launch a national agitation to get justice for the farmers and assured all help to Naidu in his struggle. “Despite being a diabetic, Naidu observed the fast for eight days and identified himself with the problems of farmers. We requested him to break the fast as he is also no longer young,” said Bardhan.
The CPI leader criticized both the central and state governments for their indifference towards the miseries of farmers. “It is going to be a longer fight than we thought,” he said.
MDMK leader Vaiko, AIADMK leader Thambidurai, INLD leader Om Prakash Chautala and a representative of Assom Gana Parishad (AGP) were also present.
Earlier, dozens of legislators and leaders of TDP were arrested when they tried to lay siege to the state secretariat.
Tension prevailed in the high-security area when TDP legislators tried to march from the state assembly to the secretariat. Raising anti-government slogans, the leaders, including some MPs and former ministers, headed towards the secretariat when the police stopped them at Ravindra Bharati.
Another group of TDP leaders reached near the secretariat’s main gate but were stopped by policemen. The leaders, who were raising slogans of “anti-farmer government”, were arrested as they tried to enter the secretariat.
“The police action is undemocratic. We are not being given an opportunity to even meet ministers and submit a memorandum,” said TDP legislator P. Keshav.
TDP MP Venugopal Reddy and legislators E. Dayakar Rao, who had managed to enter the secretariat earlier, staged a sit-in in front of C block that houses Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy’s office. They were also arrested.
Doctors at NIMS Thursday night forcibly administered IV fluids as Naidu’s condition deteriorated Thursday night. NIMS director P.V. Ramesh said they had no other option as there was an imminent risk of Naidu slipping into a coma.
As police had obtained orders from a magistrate directing NIMS authorities to take care of Naidu’s health, police forcibly removed a few TDP leaders present in his room and also ordered his wife Bhuvaneswari and other relatives to leave.
The leader of opposition was then shifted to the intensive care unit and forcibly given IV fluids. Naidu had been refusing to take the same or undergo treatment since Monday, when he was arrested and brought to hospital.
Naidu was demanding that the government declare the crop loss a national calamity, and pay compensation of Rs.10,000 per acre for food crops and Rs.15,000 per acre for commercial crops.
Opposition parties claim that about 150 farmers had committed suicide due to the massive crop losses they suffered in heavy rains early this month.