Jagan continues fast in Telangana

[1]

YSR Congress party leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy's 48-hour fast in Armoor town of Telangana to highlight the problems of farmers entered the second day on Wednesday amid tight security.

A large number of farmers and supporters queued up at the hunger strike camp to call on the Kadapa MP and son of late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

Jagan, as the young leader is popularly called, began his fast in Armoor town of Nizamabad district on Tuesday night, about 10 hours behind schedule.

He had a smooth entry into the town despite protests by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and other pro-Telangana groups, who wanted him to support the demand for a separate Telangana state before visiting the region.

Sporadic protests marked Jagan's journey from Hyderabad to Armoor. He stopped at several places in Ranga Reddy, Medak and Nizamabad districts to a rousing welcome by his supporters.

Addressing people Tuesday night, Jagan criticised the Congress government for not addressing the problems of farmers.

He said farmers were facing severe hardships as they were not getting remunerative prices for their produce and due to lack of financial support from the government.

Police have thrown up a massive security cover around Jagan's hunger strike camp to prevent any untoward incident.

Dozens of leaders and activists of TRS have already been taken into custody as a precautionary measure.

This is the first visit by Jagan to Telangana region after the movement for separate statehood gathered momentum. It came close on the heels of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu's visit to the region, which was marred by violent protests by TRS.