Telangana: Congress' Bhatti Vikramarka calls off his indefinite strike

Hyderabad: Congress leader Bhatti Vikramarka called off his indefinite strike here in protest against the crossover of the party's 12 legislators to Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Bhatti Vikramarka broke his fast after 48 hours in the presence of senior leaders of Congress party.

Vikramarka started a hunger strike on Saturday stating that it will last for only 36 hours. However, later it was changed to an indefinite strike to ensure that his message reached out to everyone in the state.

After being requested by police officials to stop the protest over health issues, Vikramarka was shifted to NIMS hospital, said Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao.

"Owing to health issues of Bhatti Vikramarka, all senior leaders of the party requested him to call off the hunger strike. We are going to the court tomorrow for hearing on the issue on how the Speaker could merge the Congress party with Telangana Rashtra Samithi without the consent of Party president," added Rao.

On June 6, as many as 12 out of 18 MLAs of the Congress met Telangana Assembly Speaker to join Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao's party.