Vijayawada: YSR Congress Party MPs who resigned from Lok Sabha and took up indefinite hunger strike in New Delhi demanding Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh received a grand welcome at Gannavaram airport in Vijayawada this evening.

The five MPs — Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy (Nellore), YV Subba Reddy (Ongole), Varaprasad (Tirupati), P Midhun Reddy (Rajampet) and YS Avinash Reddy ( Cuddapah) came back after relentless fight for SCS in Delhi. YSRCP cadre and supporters came in huge numbers to the airport to give them a warm welcome.

Later, the MPs went to visit YSRCP President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at the camp of his Praja Sankalpa Yatra in Shobanapuram. They will discuss the next plan of action with respect to their fight for SCS to AP.

Speaking to media, YSRCP MP YV Subba Reddy said: "We stood by our word with respect to fight for SCS to AP. Our fast was forcibly ruined." We took up the matter with President Ramnath Kovind and explained the entire events leading up to our fast, he said.

Another MP, Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy alleged that the centre had cheated AP and CM Chandrababu was also part of the conspiracy. He said that the equation would change during 2019 elections and YSRCP would support the party which would fulfill the promises made by the central government.

YSRCP relentlessly fought for SCS to AP and had issued several notices to move a no-confidence motion against the Centre in Lok Sabha, MP Avinash Reddy said. He said that party chief YS Jagan would suggest future course of action to achieve SCS to state at any cost. "YSRCP will continue to fight until we get steel plant, railway zone and funds for backward districts of the state," he asserted.

YSRCP MP Varaprasad said that they had done all that they could in their fight against the central government. The fight will continue till SCS is achieved, he added. Midhun Reddy said that after having wasted four years, people were not ready to believe Chandrababu now.