Andhra Pradesh: Chandrababu Naidu, son and other TDP leaders under house arrest

Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu, his son and former IT minister, N Lokesh, Vijayawada member of Parliament, Kesineni Nani, and several other Telugu Desam leaders were kept under house arrest as a preventive measure on Wednesday morning.

The arrests were made to prevent them from going to Atmakuru in the Palanadu region of Guntur district, in response to their "Chalo Atmakuru" call, to take TDP workers back to their villages in the region. They were allegedly forced to flee their villages by YSR Congress Party leaders and cadres in the past few months, after the Party came to power with a landslide victory earlier this year.

Read more:It’s a cakewalk for YSR Congress in AP

The TDP alleged that "the victims are afraid of going back to the villages and they are being terrorised by the ruling YSR Congress leaders and cadres."

The TDP set up a rehabilitation camp at Guntur for its victim workers and sympathisers ten days ago and has been requesting the Government to create conditions in Palanadu villages for their safe return. Alleging inaction by the Government, the party gave the call for "Chalo Atmakuru" on Wednesday morning.

There was heavy police deployment at the former Chief Minister's house at Undavalli in Guntur district as he was scheduled to leave his house around 11 am for Atmakuru. The police prevented him from moving out of his house and in protest he said he will sit on a hunger strike from 8 am to 8 pm.

The former CM said that "it was a dark day for democracy in the State" and he, or his party, would not be cowed down by such repressive tactics of the Government. "The fight for justice would continue in spite of all the hurdles and obstacles. I have never in four decades of my political career witnessed such repressive measures being taken, without any provocation, by any Government in the State and it reflects the character of the man at the helm of affairs and his state of mind right now," he commented.

Several TDP leaders were also taken into preventive detention in Guntur and other districts as well.

In the afternoon, the alleged victims were taken to their villages in Palanadu region by the police in five buses from the rehabilitation camp organised by the TDP in Guntur. The TDP leaders at the camp were also taken into custody.

Condemning the arrest of the TDP workers and "the raid on rehabilitation camp" at Guntur, the former CM said late in the afternoon that "if anything happens to the victims now in the villages, I hold the police and the State Government responsible. As soon as the police permit me, I shall go to the village, Atmakuru, in the region to reassure the victims, especially the 125 SC families."

State Home Minister Sucharita said the former CM and the TDP leaders were deliberately creating a law and order situation in Palanadu, and they had to be kept under house arrest to prevent problems and facilitate the shifting of the alleged victims to Palanadu. "The State Government will give full protection to them, if they are really under threat from any quarter. However, it is a false allegation by the TDP that the ruling party is terrorising them. It is not correct to give a political colour to clashes at village level," she said.

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