Hours after launching its 36-hour satyagraha deeksha, Congress on Saturday turned it into a fast-unto-death stir to exert pressure on legislative assembly speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy to disqualify the 12 defected Congress MLAs whose merger into TRSLP was accepted by the latter.

Through the indefinite fast led by Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Congress also sought to project chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and TRS as “anti-Dalit”, while Vikramarka went to the extent of calling KCR a “political terrorist.” Vikramarka said terrorism in any form is dangerous for the people. “KCR is indulging in political terrorism and this fast-unto-death is to save democracy,” he said.