TDP leader Lokesh, his mother observe hunger strike protesting against arrest of Chandrababu Naidu

TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh, along with his mother and host of supporters on Monday held a hunger strike protesting against the arrest of his father and party chief N Chandrababu Naidu.

While Lokesh undertook a fast in Delhi accompanied by party leaders and a couple of MPs, his mother Bhuvaneswari did so at Rajamahendravaram in Andhra Pradesh. The hunger strike was held from 10 am to 5 pm.

''Great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela went to jail for the principles they trusted, while Chandrababu was sent to jail for launching the Skill Development project to provide employment fo the jobless,'' said Lokesh, addressing the media after ending his fast.

He said that the former chief minister designed the Skill Development project with an aim of providing largescale employment to the jobless people in the state.

According to the TDP general secretary, as many as 2.15 lakh youths were trained under this programme, including 80,000 people bagging jobs.

Terming the TDP chief's arrest as a political vendetta, Lokesh said the Supreme Court will take up Naidu's quash petition on Tuesday and based on the court's decision, the party will announce its future course of action.

Naidu was arrested on September 9, for allegedly misappropriating funds from the Skill Development Corporation, which resulted in a purported loss of over Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)