Hyderabad:
Opposition leader Chandrababu Naidu has ended his hunger strike, launched to protest against the Andhra Pradesh government's alleged indifference towards the state's farmers.
Leaders from nine political parties arrived in Hyderabad and convinced Chandrababu Naidu to break his fast by consuming a glass of coconut water. The parties have decided to work along with the TDP to make Chandrababu Naidu's struggle for farmers into a national issue and put pressure on the UPA government.
Naidu was moved forcibly by the police to the Intensive Care Unit of a Hyderabad hospital yesterday after doctors said that his condition was deteriorating. This morning, he was reported to be in stable condition.
Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) wants the Congress government to increase the compensation for farmers whose crops were destroyed this year by heavy and unseasonal rain. 50 lakh acres were affected.
"127 farmers have committed suicide. The chief minister is saying it is one of the best packages, then why are farmers still committing suicide?", asked the TDP's Yerran Naidu.
The government's official figures say the state has seen 39 farmer suicides.
Farmers are being embraced as a political cause not just by the TDP but also by Jagan Mohan Reddy, who quit the Congress a few weeks ago and plans to launch his own party. Jagan, whose fater YSR Reddy died when he was chief minister in a helicopter crash last year, went on a 48-hour fast to show his support for farmers. Jagan ended his fast yesterday.
Leaders from nine political parties arrived in Hyderabad and convinced Chandrababu Naidu to break his fast by consuming a glass of coconut water. The parties have decided to work along with the TDP to make Chandrababu Naidu's struggle for farmers into a national issue and put pressure on the UPA government.
Naidu was moved forcibly by the police to the Intensive Care Unit of a Hyderabad hospital yesterday after doctors said that his condition was deteriorating. This morning, he was reported to be in stable condition.
Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) wants the Congress government to increase the compensation for farmers whose crops were destroyed this year by heavy and unseasonal rain. 50 lakh acres were affected.
"127 farmers have committed suicide. The chief minister is saying it is one of the best packages, then why are farmers still committing suicide?", asked the TDP's Yerran Naidu.
The government's official figures say the state has seen 39 farmer suicides.
Farmers are being embraced as a political cause not just by the TDP but also by Jagan Mohan Reddy, who quit the Congress a few weeks ago and plans to launch his own party. Jagan, whose fater YSR Reddy died when he was chief minister in a helicopter crash last year, went on a 48-hour fast to show his support for farmers. Jagan ended his fast yesterday.
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