Immobilisimo in Andhra! Naidu attacks Sonia using Italian

Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu on Monday began an indefinite fast in New Delhi to protest against the split of Andhra Pradesh, accusing the Congress of playing politics in view of the Lok Sabha polls, but remained ambivalent on Telangana.

Accusing the Congress and the central government of not holding discussions and taking the decision "arbitrarily" to bifurcate the state, he said the Seemandhra region has plunged into chaos and people are starting to lose confidence in the political system.

"They (Congress party) are treating Andhra Pradesh issue as the internal affair of the party. They are interested in politics, not governance or state or people. They are saying everything in terms of politics. Things are becoming worse day by day," Naidu told reporters in New Delhi.

He said the intention of the Congress party had become clear right on the day of announcing the split of the state after the Congress working committee meeting when they said that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi party is going to merge with them.

Naidu, who visited Rajghat to pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi before launching his fast, contended that the Congress wanted to win votes in both Telangana and Seemandhra regions with the support of the TRS and YSR Congress party of Jaganmohan Reddy.

"I am asking is it the way of doing politics at the cost of society? You are doing this type of dirty politics, that is what is happening today," he said.

Naidu said people in the Seemandhra region are protesting for over 70 days ever since the announcement about the split. "People in Andhra Pradesh are losing confidence in the political system and there is chaos. We are all party to that. They have lost confidence in elected representatives," he said.

Naidu chose the Italian word 'immobilisimo', which means standstill, to describe the situation in Andhra Pradesh. He said the Delhi government and the Congress party will only understand this language.

"The government in Delhi understands Italian language. I want to use it. It is more appropriate to government in Delhi and the Congress party also," he said.

Asked whether he was in favour of formation of Telangana or not and his party's support to the new state extended in 2008, Naidu was ambivalent saying all the three regions are same to him. "As a father if I have three children, I will treat all the children as same," he said.