Sirpur BJP MLA Starts Indefinite Hunger Stir
Harish Babu said he would continue his deeksha until the government cancels GO No. 49, which has only been kept in abeyance
ADILABAD: BJP MLA from Sirpur (T), Palvai Harish Babu, began a ‘Satyagraha Deeksha’ (indefinite hunger strike) at his residence on Monday evening, demanding that the state government cancel GO No. 49 and resolve the long-pending Podu land issue in his Assembly constituency in Komaram Bheem Asifabad district.
Harish Babu said he would continue his deeksha until the government cancels GO No. 49, which has only been kept in abeyance.
Addressing the gathering, he alleged that the government issued GO 49 declaring the tiger corridor between Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra and Kawal Tiger Reserve as a conservation reserve without consulting local people. He warned that the decision would hamper development in the region and threaten the very existence of tribal communities.
He strongly condemned the arrest of BJP workers, podu farmers, and others opposing GO 49, accusing the police of preventing them from reaching Kagaznagar to participate in a dharna.
Two days earlier, Harish Babu had called for a protest on August 18 in front of the Kagaznagar Divisional Forest Office against the arrests of podu cultivators from Dinda village in Chinthalamanepalli mandal and to demand the cancellation of GO 49.
However, police detained BJP activists heading to Kagaznagar for the dharna and placed Harish Babu under house arrest on Monday.