KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday extended support to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who will observe a day-long fast to demand "justice" for the state from the Centre.
It is notable that today is also Naidu's birthday. Naidu sat on hunger strike at Indira Gandhi Stadium from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. demanding "justice" for the state, including the special category status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh.
West Bengal Chief Minister took to her Twitter handle and said "We extend support to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu @ncbn, for his one-day Hunger Strike for the five crore people of Andhra Pradesh #CBNFast4Justice". (sic)
The hunger strike is called 'Dharma Porata Deeksha' or 'Fight for Justice'. The strategy for the hunger strike was finalised by the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet, chaired by Naidu, on Monday.
Naidu has been calling for the special category status to Andhra Pradesh. Asserting his demand, the TDP had quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) last month.
The SCS was first accorded in 1969 to Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Nagaland. Over the years, eight more states were added to the list - Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura and, finally, in 2010, Uttarakhand.