VIJAYAWADA: Politics between the Telugu Desam and the YSRC took an ugly turn on the second day of National Women's Parliament (NWP) as the police detained YSRC legislator R.K. Roja at the airport on Saturday. She was held at a waiting room at the airport, citing the security protocal for the Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and was taken away in a police convoy for allegedly uploading incriminating material on social media.
No one knew about her whereabouts for a while until Ms Roja sent a selfie video explaining what happened in the vehicle. She said that the police had told her that she would be taken to the venue but they took her on the highway towards Guntur and later turned towards Hyderabad. The video circulated quickly among the YSRC cadre and there was high drama on the Guntur-Hyderabad highway.
At Perecharla junction, Ms Roja tried to get off the vehicle and fell down on the road. The police made her sit in the vehicle and drove away. The convoy was spotted again at Medi Konduru and Sattenapalli. It was then clear to YSRC leaders that she is being shifted to Hyderabad. At Dachepally, YSRC leaders, including Kasu Mahesh Reddy and Janga Krishnamurthy, gathered in huge numbers to intercept the convoy. The police arrested both the leaders and dispersed the followers.
Protests erupted across the state condemning the arrest of Ms Roja with YSRC supporters coming onto the streets. Left parties found fault with the government for not allowing Roja to attend the event. YSRC leaders K. Pardasarathi, Jogi Ramesh, Vellampalli Srinivas, Giddi Eswari and others marched to the DGP office from Indira Gandhi Municipal stadium and gave a representation to Director-General of Police N. Sambasiva Rao demanding the immediate release of Ms Roja.
Mr Parthasarathi told reporters that the DGP had told them that Ms Roja was arrested because she made provocative posts on social media. She would be allowed to the NWP only if she gave an undertaking that she would not speak anything negative, the YSRC leaders claimed the DGP told them.
