Give up fast, not your precious life: Jayalalithaa to Babu

Aiadmk General Secretary and former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalaithaa on Friday reminded Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu that his life was far too precious to be ‘sacrificed at the altar of cut-throat politics.’

Ms Jayalalithaa’s words came in the form of a letter released to the media here in which she wrote that Mr Naidu was needed to be ‘around’ to take up many more public causes.

The Tamil Nadu leader added that it was her personal request that Mr Naidu gives up his fast and take the protest to a different level."

The former Tamil Nadu chief minister also expressed her belief that "Public interest will ultimately triumph," adding that she had learnt ‘with considerable apprehension’ that Mr Naidu’s fast had entered the eighth day.

She stated that she appreciated the TDP chief’s concern for the people and deplored the state government’s lack of response to the hunger strike, save for forcing intravenous fluids into his body.

Ms Jayalalithaa added that the ‘Gandhian methods of protest, which were so effective against the British, are totally lost on Gandhi's Congress party that is in power both at the Centre and in Andhra Pradesh," she pointed out.