Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu began his one-day hunger strike at Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium in Vijayawada. The 12-hour hunger strike began at 7am and will end at 7pm.

Chandrababu called for a strike to protest against Centre's stand on granting Special Category Status to the state and fulfilling other promises made to AP at the time of bifurcation.

Interestingly instead of garnering support, Chandrababu has invited criticism from commoners and Opposition as nearly Rs 30 crores from the public fund is being spent on his strike today.

Also Read: How Much Will Chandrababu’s Fast Cost The State Exchequer?

Recently, the state witnessed a one-day bandh called by the Prathyeka Hodha Sadhana Committee was supported by YSRCP, Jana Sena, Congress and the Left parties for SCS. However, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chose to oppose it then by not taking part in the bandh. It may be recalled that Chandrababu had stated that the recent bandh had caused a loss of Rs 12 crore to the APSRTC. Now, people are wondering if Chandrababu was so concerned about losses how come he's carrying out the one-day hunger strike that's costing Rs 30 crore.

People stated that, while YSRCP leaders and others staged protests in scorching heat, Chandrababu's hunger strike is a burden to the state with no results.

"He is cheating people again. What happened when all YSRCP MPs resigned and went on hunger strike? If he would've gotten his MPs to do the same then, it would've created national buzz and the Centre would've given special status to the state," The AP Leader of Opposition, YS Jagan said.

YSRCP chief added that rather than staging a one-day strike, it would have been better had Chandrababu insisted that his partymen join YSRCP MPs' strike for SCS.