Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday extended his party's support to the ongoing strike by textile traders and said the issue would be raised in the coming budget session of the Assembly.

DHARNA HELD

Participating in the dharna' organised by the traders demanding withdrawal of 5 per cent VAT on textiles, Mr. Naidu wondered why the Congress government was reluctant to remove the tax when other States have done it several months ago. He said if the government remains adamant and fails to concede the traders' demand, there was danger of the textile industry and trade shifting to other States.

This was not only the issue of two lakh textile traders, but 20 lakh workers who depend on them and of heavy burden on the common man.

FALSE PROMISES

The government has assured a tax- free environment to the textile industry, but has now brought the VAT through the back door before the State budget, he added and wondered how the State would create 15 lakh jobs after rendering so many people jobless. Senior TDP leader G. Butchaiah Chowdhary criticised the government for targeting the cloth merchants.

Meanwhile, textile markets across the State - including in Hyderabad remained closed on the eighth day on Tuesday, the last day, in response to the call given by the Andhra Pradesh Federation of Textile Associations (APFTA) protesting the imposition of VAT. In many towns and cities, textile traders took out processions, staged dharnas and launched relay hunger strikes.