Bhatti Vikramarka's Fast-To-Death Enters Second Day

The "satyagraha" fast-to-death launched by Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka at Dharna Chowk in Hyderabad entered the second day on Sunday.

Bhatti has gone on the fast to condemn the decision of the Telangana Assembly Speaker to merge the CLP into the ruling TRS without considering the complaints lodged by the Congress for the disqualification of the 12 MLAs who defected.

Though the Congress leaders initially decided to hold a 36-hour fast, they decided to convert it into a fast-unto-death demanding that the State government disqualify all the MLAs who defected.

The intervention of the TPCC president led to the conversion of the 36-hour deeksha into the fast-to-death program.

Speaking on the occasion, Vikramarka warned the people of Telangana that TRS leaders like KCR and KTR would turn them into their slaves if such damage was allowed to be done to the democratic norms.

He alleged that the father-and-son duo was out to butcher the country's constitution and democratic institutions. Claiming that KTR did not have proper understanding of history, he said that it was Congress Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who had brought in the anti-defection law to protect democracy. He said that there was a need to stop "political terrorists" like KCR and KTR in the State.

He also dared the 12 MLAs who defected to resign from their posts and contest the elections afresh if they thought they had public support, and expressed confidence that the people would teach a befitting lesson to the CM and the defectors.