D. Raja asks Centre to address genuine concerns of people of Andhra

Expressing serious concern over the ongoing protests in Andhra Pradesh following the nod for creation of a separate Telangana state, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja on Monday said the Centre must address the genuine concerns of the people and assure them that their interests will be duly protected.

Raja said the situation is very serious, and added that the people are expressing their genuine concerns and fears.

"If bifurcation takes place, this will affect them adversely. It will have very far-reaching implications on their lives, they may not get the water which they are getting from various rivers of Andhra Pradesh. And they have fear of employment, they have fear of investment, they have fear of share of electricity," Raja told media here.

"All these fears one cannot dismiss, they are genuine fears; and the Central Government should address these fears. The Central Government has formed a Group of Ministers, but I don't understand they must send some team to meet the leaders of these agitations," he added.

Meanwhile, Telegu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu will go on an indefinite hunger strike in Delhi from today to protest against the Centre's decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.

Naidu, who is extremely upset with the decision to create a separate Telangana state, is expected to begin his fast this afternoon.

"The problems pertain to the people residing in Seemandhra are facing for the past sixty to seventy days and the violence that has been going on. To address those problems and demand from the government, he (TDP chief) is coming and would sit on an indefinite strike from tomorrow," TDS leader Nageswara Rao told yesterday.

Naidu begins his fast two days after the YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy began his indefinite hunger strike in Hyderabad on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the situation in curfew-bound Andhra Pradesh's Vijayanagaram district is still tense. Rapid Action and additional Para military forces have been deployed to bring back normalcy.

The normal life in 13 districts of Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra regions has crippled due to power shutdown. It has badly hit all major services like drinking water supply, medical services and railways.

On October 3, the Union Cabinet had decided to go ahead with the process for the creation of a separate Telangana state carved out from Andhra Pradesh.