Lagadapati Fast On; Andhra Boils

After being arrested twice and released both times yesterday by an edgy Hyderabad police, Lagadapati Rajagopal, who shifted base to Vijayawada again last night, is continuing his fast from there.

He went on a march from his house to the PWD grounds and sat on his fast-to-death there. Krishna district, already boiling and on a standstill for 4 days now, was the perfect home ground - showing warmth in the form of a complete bandh, human garlands being formed by teachers, and a shutdown of all commercial activity and educational institutions. Pinnamaneni Appaji, also on a fast in Krishna district's Gudiwada, suffered a heart attack, and has been hospitalized.

The rest of the Andhra and Rayalaseema belts continue to boil, too. In Anantapur, the police have continued using physical force against the SKU (Sri Krishnadevaraya University), significantly damaging a canteen, and inviting the wrath of and demands for suspension of the cops involved from most Seema and Andhra MLAs/MPs; Chavva Rajasekhara Reddy, a senior Congress leader, has started a fast at the Potti Sriramulu statue for a united Andhra; and JNTU has declared holidays till next Monday.

In Tirupati, JAC members have alleged that Home Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy should be removed from her post as she is from Telangana and is responsible for the brutal acts of the police in trying to suppress the united Andhra movement, and that DIG Charu Sinha should be moved out of Anantapur. In Kadapa, protests against Y S Vivekananda Reddy's arrest have resulted in damage to a Tehsildar's office, an MDO and some post offices.

The Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner has said that 3 extra battalions of police have been requested to provide security to the city, including the IT establishments. And in Hyderabad, Seema and Andhra Congress MLAs and MLCs, and PRP MLAs, have submitted a request to the Governor not to divide the state, and to accept their resignations.

Voices against Jagan are slowly picking up. Pro-Telangana MPs have demanded action against Jagan for his siding with the united Andhra movement. BJYM activists in Karimnagar have destroyed his effigy. Lagadapati's effigies are, of course, being destroyed all over Telangana as the rites of passage for being part of the Telangana statehood movement.

It is Potti Sriramulu's death anniversary today, and several leaders, including the CM Rosaiah, have garlanded his statue near the Telugu Talli flyover close to the Secretariat.

Meanwhile, Chiranjeevi is the only remaining MLA in the PRP, after all the other 17 of his party MLAs have resigned, most demanding a united Andhra Pradesh, and some like Erravula Anil objecting to the delay in creating a Telangana state.