Till a couple of years ago, people of the Telugu States had witnessed self-immolations by innocent youth for formation of separate Telangana State and in some parts of Seemandhra, against bifurcation.
Now, it looks like these agitations have set a trend in achieving new goals.
On Saturday, a youth attempted suicide by setting himself ablaze at Tirupati demanding special category status to Andhra Pradesh, setting the tone for a violent agitation for the demand in the coming days.
A Congress worker Muni Koti suddenly doused himself in kerosene and set himself ablaze at the “Praja Poru” meeting organized by the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee at Tirupati, in which senior leaders like former union minister K Chiranjeevi, PCC president N Raghuveera Reddy and Oopposition leader in Legislative Council C Ramachandraiah also participated.
Immediately, the Congress workers have shifted the youth to Ruia hospital. He claimed that he had resorted to the extreme step only to demonstrate the immediacy of bestowing the special status on AP.
He is learnt to have suffered 80 per cent burns and his condition is said to be critical.
The self-sacrifice indicates the depth of demand for special category status among the people of Andhra Pradesh.
