Hyderabad: Around 24 MLAs of main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) tonight went on an indefinite hunger strike here against the government`s "failure" to resolve the grave power crisis gripping Andhra Pradesh.
The MLAs, who met at the TDP Legislature Party office after the assembly was adjourned sine die tonight, decided to launch the stir to exert pressure on the government to solve the power crisis as well as withdraw the proposed steep hike in electricity tariff that would impose an additional financial burden of Rs 12,000 crore on consumers.
They marched to the Old MLA Quarters at Hyderguda to launch their stir, even as the police forcibly evicted leaders of Left parties who were on an indefinite fast at Indira Park over the same issue for the past four days.
Telugu Desam Legislature Party deputy leaders M Narasimhulu and Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu were leading the protest in which five women legislators also participated.
More TDP MLAs are expected join the fast tomorrow, they said. "The unprecedented power crisis gripping the state is totally due to the short-sightedness of Congress governments since 2004," Narasimhulu alleged.
Instead of coming up with alternative measures to resolve the crisis, the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh led by Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy is getting ready to fleece power consumers to the tune of Rs 31,500 crore in the form of tariff hike and fuel surcharge adjustment, he said.
PTI
