Naidu takes out Padayatra in Kuppam villages after police thwart his roadshow

TIRUPATI: Telugu Desam (TD) chief and former chief minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday took out a padayatra from the 121-Pedduru village in Chittoor district after he was prevented by the police from holding road shows and public meetings in Kuppam assembly constituency.

Soon after Naidu arrived in Pedduru from Bengaluru, a team of police officers led by Palamaner SDPO Sudhakar Reddy stopped his convoy. Naidu was on his way to hold the party’s ‘Idemi Karma Mana Rashtraniki’ programme in Kuppam assembly constituency.

An angry Naidu demanded that the police explain why his visit to Kuppam was being blocked.

Naidu argued with the police that renewing the terms of the British Raj Act of 1861 through GO-1 was an absurd action. “How can the DGP and the Chief Minister prevent me from holding road shows and public meetings? I've been the Kuppam MLA since 1989. The GO is intended to prohibit me from reaching out to my people," Naidu said.

Speaking to the media, Naidu lambasted Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for issuing the order that barred public gatherings and demonstrations on roads. The YSRC government was stifling the voice of the people and the opposition, he said.

 “Fearing loss in the next elections, Jagan Mohan Reddy transformed himself into a psychopath and is committing such deeds,” Naidu added.

The TD chief asked the CM to explain under what Act the government enacted GO-1 which has “no legal standing.”

"About a month ago, I wrote to the DGP about my Kuppam programme. The state government is attempting to prevent me from meeting my own people. Jagan is behaving dictatorially and if his government continues its resort to undemocratic practices, the five crore people of AP will revolt and the CM will have to run away,” he said.

"I have already informed the police that I'll be visiting my constituency on January 4. However, they brought in a GO on January 2, directing that any meeting should be held at the discretion of police and the CM. Nonetheless, the CM made a visit to Rajamahendravaram on Tuesday, declaring a holiday for schools and colleges, besides using RTC and school buses to carry people to his gathering.”

“After the GO was issued, YSRC leaders attended a rally in Vizianagaram," Naidu said.

Condemning the lathi-charge on the party workers and appealing to his men to act responsibly and refrain from instigating the police, the TD chief said his fight was against the “psycho CM” and that the ‘psycho government’ should be replaced by the “cycle governance.”

He claimed that all sections of people in the state were vexed with the YSRC rule and they strongly believed that “the TD is the saviour of the state.”