Chandrababu Naidu begins protest march over Andhra special status, to meet President

New Delhi, Feb 12: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday undertook a protest march from Andhra Bhavan to Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi over demand for special status for the state.

All the MPs, MLAs and MLCs of his Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will take part in the march that begins at 11.00 am in the national capital.

Following the protest march, the Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP legislators will meet President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan at 12.30 pm.

His day-long hunger-strike a day ago turned out to be a rallying point for the opposition parties in Delhi as leaders from nearly two dozen political parties, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, visited him to express solidarity.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had accused Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu of betraying and backstabbing his father-in-law NT Ramarao (NTR). Until last year, Naidu was an important ally of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government.