"We will not wait anymore. It will be a stone for a stone and worse.'' The war cry is a dramatic change in pitch for K Chandrasekhar Rao, the man whose 11-day hunger fast is credited with winning a new state of Telangana. The union government's decision to ok the state has backfired dramatically with 146 Andhra MLAs quitting the Assembly to protest against the bifurcation of the state.

In addition to resignations, hunger fasts are also the flavour of the month in the state. L Rajagopal, Congress MP from Vijayawada, is fasting in favour of a United Andhra.  "We will not tolerate Telugu state being split to weaken our bargaining power and strength. We will not agree to that,'' he says.

The government has not indicated whether it's rethinking its Telangana decision. Congress sources say that despite opposition within its own house, and from some of its key allies at the Centre, the party will not reverse its stand. Instead, it will go slow on the implementation.

That could be bad news for former Telugu Desam Minister Kodela Sivaprasad Rao, who says his hunger fast " is not for one or two days. Till the Central government takes back its decision, we will fast.''

Kodela's embrace of Gandhi's form of civil protest  is incongruous with his record. Bombs stored at his Guntur home exploded in 1999.

For Andhra's politicians, the hunger fast and the Gandhian spirit behind it is clearly open for reinterpretation.