OPPOSITION SHOW OF UNITY AT NAIDU’S DAY-LONG FAST

NEWDELHI: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s daylong fast demanding special status for his state on Monday became a rallying point for various Opposition leaders who visited the protest venue to back him and attack the Bharatiya Janata Party(bjp)-led central government.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, National Congress chairperson Farooq Abdullah, Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Majeed Memon, Trinamool Congress’s Derek O’ Brien, DMK’S Tiruchi Siva and Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav were among those who met the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief to express their support. The TDP president is demanding that the Centre fulfil promises made during Andhra Pradesh’s bifurcation in 2014 and alleges that Modi was not following “raj dharma” by denying the state special status.

“The Prime Minister has stolen from the people from Andhra Pradesh and he has given that money to Anil Ambani. That is the fact of the matter,” Gandhi alleged at the protest venue Andhra Bhavan in an apparent reference to the Rafale fighter jet deal with France.