Komatireddy Venkat Reddy Continues Fast in NIMS

Demanding separate statehood for Telangana, former minister and Congress MLA Komatireddy Venkat Reddy continued his indefinite hunger strike for the eighth day Tuesday at Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), where he shifted on Sunday for deteriorating health.

Ignoring the appeals of the party leadership, Venkat Reddy refused to call off the fast, saying he would do so only after the central leadership makes a clear cut statement in favour of carving out a separate state. He had launched his hunger strike on Nov 1 in Nalgonda town. Police shifted him to NIMS in Hyderabad after his condition started deteriorating. Several senior party leaders, including union minister S. Jaipal Reddy, state Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana and D. Srinivas have appealed to him to call off the fast. Jaipal Reddy spoke to Venkat Reddy over phone and urged him to call off the hunger strike. Satyanarayana, Srinivas and others who called on him at the hospital also appealed to him to end his protest but the former minister was unrelenting on his demand.

Today tension prevailed for quite some time in Panjagutta arae, where the NIMS is located, as scores of Venkat Reddy's followers tried to break the police cordon and enter the hospital. They even pelted stones on the nearby Panjagutta Police station, when some of them were arrested. Police had to resort to mild lathicharge to disperse the mobs. Later, police asked the mobs to observe restraint and allowed them to see their leader one by one in queue.
 

Video Source: snehatv.com