Special status: Refusing to end protest, TDP MPs land up in hospital

As Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MPs continued to protest over the demand for 'Special Category Status' to Andhra Pradesh, in the Rajya Sabha, long after the House was adjourned for the day, two of them took ill and had to be taken to a hospital on Thursday evening.

MPs Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao and Awanti Srinivas were taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital by an ambulance after they complained of high blood pressure.

Meanwhile, other protesting MPs CM Ramesh, Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, and Thota Seetharama Lakshmi had to be attended to by a doctor within the House itself, as the MPs refused to leave under any circumstances until their demands were met.

On March 16, the Andhra ruling party reached a deadlock with BJP-ruled Centre over its demand of special status to the state and ultimately quit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition at the Centre. Since then, the TDP MPs have been protesting in the Parliament over the issue.