New Delhi, February 11: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday morning began the "Dharma Porata Deeksha" (day-long hunger strike) in New Delhi demanding special status to the state and urging the central government to fulfil promises made when Telangana was carved out of AP in 2014. The protest comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a rally in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday, making a scathing attack on Naidu for allegedly wasting public money on political campaigns. Chandrababu Naidu Begins 'Dharma Porata Deeksha' in Delhi.

On Monday addressing to media, Naidu said, "Today we came here all the way to protest against central govt. Yesterday PM visited Andhra Pradesh, Guntur one day before the dharna. What is the need, I am asking." Narendra Modi Attacks Chandrababu Naidu in Guntur, Accuses TDP Chief of Running Central Welfare Schemes in State by Changing Names.

He further added, "If you won't fulfil our demands, we know how to get them fulfilled. This is about self-respect of people of AP. Whenever there is an attack on our self-respect, we won't tolerate it. I am warning this government and  particularly the PM to stop attacking an individual."

The TDP supremo began the day-long strike after paying respect to the Mahatma Gandhi memorial at Rajghat. Earlier, last year, the CM had observed a fast in Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada on his birthday on April 20 demanding special status.

The TDP led by Naidu had quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) last year by saying that injustice has been done to the state after its bifurcation. Naidu had also accused Modi government of going back to the long-awaited promise of special state status to AP.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 11, 2019 09:48 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).