Bowing to pressure both from fasting Congress MPs and party leaders, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy agreed in principle to withdraw all cases filed against protesters who indulged in violence during the pro- and anti-statehood agitations earlier this year.
In all, the government will withdraw 1,667 cases involving 8,047 persons in the agitations that took place between December 2009 and September 2010. Following this, the Congress MPs announced that they would withdraw their fast.
Earlier, TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao put in an appearance at the hungerstrike camp at the New MLA Quarters where nine MPs, lead by Dr K. Keshav Rao, were sitting on fast from Monday. Exchanging wide smiles and friendly hugs with the MPs, Mr Rao praised the Congress MPs and said the people of Telangana were behind them.
The announcement on withdrawal of cases was made by state home minister P. Sabita Indra Reddy and panchayati raj minister K. Jana Reddy, who had been mediating with the fasting MPs. The ministers later went to the hungerstrike camp and handed over a copy of the government announcement.
The withdrawal of cases came as a surprise, given the firmness with which the CM had earlier turned down the request for lifting all cases.