Hunger strike on Kadapa steel plant enters day 3

 Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh) : Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader C. M. Ramesh's indefinite hunger strike at Kadapa district's Zila Parishad office entered its third day on Friday.

Ramesh began the strike on Wednesday, demanding the Centre to set up an integrated steel plant in Kadapa, as promised in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, also known as the Telangana Act.

TDP leaders Ashok Gajapathi Raju, N. Siva Prasad, Seetha Mahalakshmi, Kesineni Srinivas, Avanti Srinivas, Maganti Venkateswara Rao, N. Kristappa, Galla Jaydev, Murali Mohan, Garikapati Mohan Rao, Ravindra Babu, Konakalla Narayana and Ravindra Kumar visited Ramesh to show solidarity to him.

Along with Ramesh, Member of Legislative Council Ravi is also on an indefinite hunger strike.
The Centre, in a recent affidavit to the Supreme Court, had said that installing a steel plant at Kadapa was not financially viable. However, the Andhra Pradesh government strongly argued that it was a viable project for at least 15 years.

Meanwhile, the TDP has decided to intensify its fight against the central government for the implementation of various promises and the special category status as part of the reorganisation act.As part of those efforts, the TDP will re-introduce a no-confidence motion in the forthcoming monsoon session of Parliament.