Farmers throng Jagan's fasting camp to express solidarity

Vijayawada: Large number of people, particularly women and farmers thronged former Congress leader Jaganmohan Reddy's fasting camp on the banks of river Krishna in Vijaywada on Wednesday to greet him and express their solidarity.

The ex-Kadapa MP  began the 48-hour hunger strike on Tuesday demanding adequate compensation to farmers who had lost their crops in heavy rains early this month in Andhra Pradesh.

Braving the cold weather, several rural women were seen queueing up before the dais at the camp site to meet the fasting leader for more than a hour in the morning.

Police helped a 90-year-old woman Savitramma to climb the dias after she travelled long from an interior area to meet Jagan. She greeted him and hugged him affectionately.

Farmers from far away places such Ongole, 150kms from Vijaywada came to express their support to Jagan and thank him for fighting their cause.

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They said that if Jagan had not announced his fasting in support of the farming community, the government might not have announced the package to relieve them from cyclone losses.

Meanwhile many MPs, MLAs and MLCs have extended their support to Jagan to mount pressure on the government to announce more relief measures to affected farmers.

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The Congress MLAs include: Konda Surekha, Jayasudha, Pilli Subhas Chandra Bose, D Chandra sekhara Reddy,  M Chandra Sekhara  Reddy, Rajesh,  Venkateswara Reddy, Srikant Reddy, Adinarayana Reddy, R Kanta Rao, Gurunadh Reddy, Alla Nani, Bala Raju, Satyavathi, Srinivasulu, Shahjahan, Kamalamma, N Sesha Reddy Sridahara Reddy, and B Srinivasa Reddy

Besides, N Prasannakumar Reddy and Balanagi Reddy from TDP and Sobha Nagi Reddy, K Rami Reddy and Maheswara Reddy from PRP were also present with Jagan in his fast.