Mahanadu 2021: TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu decries 'State terrorism'

Amaravati: TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday lashed out at the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government, alleging it was perpetrating state terrorism to mask its "undemocratic, autocratic and authoritarian" acts. Fundamental rights of citizens and civil liberties were grossly being curtailed while false cases and house arrests have become the order of the day, Naidu said, inaugurating Mahanadu, the two-day annual conclave of the TDP.

For the second year in a row, the Mahanadu is being held in a virtual mode through videoconferencing due to the prevailing coronavirus pandemic. "The ruling YSRCP leaders, the police and the rest of the official machinery have been stifling the voice of all sections of people, not to speak of the opposition parties. The state has become so intolerant and unnerved that it is foisting false cases and making house arrests (of opposition leaders) even on slightest pretext," the former chief minister alleged.

"I myself am spending sleepless nights sometimes because of the unchecked harassment of TDP leaders by the YSRCP regime. It is indeed a difficult time for the party, considering how its leaders and activists are being put to physical, psychological and financial duress. But, everybody should know how those violating all laws and norms would eventually face much greater punishment," Naidu said.

He referred to the arrest of senior TDP leaders K Atchhannadiu, Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar, J C Prabhakar Reddy, Chintamaneni Prabhakar and others in allegedly false cases. Even the YSRCP's own MP K Raghu Ramakrishna Raju was not spared and booked on sedition charge and beaten up by the police in custody, he charged.

"This exposed the lowest levels to which democracy has declined in AP. As a responsible opposition party, the TDP will continue to fight against these atrocities. The police and the government, who are violating the laws, will eventually be held accountable to the people," the Leader of Opposition asserted.

The TDP chief also came down on the Jagan Mohan Reddy government over its inept handling of the Covid-19 crisis, because of which people were dying due to lack of oxygen and even hospital beds. "This Chief Minister has no foresight or concern for the lives of people. Neither is he bothered about the stability and sustainability of AP," Naidu said.

On the first day, the TDP discussed various subjects like Covid-19 and the failure of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government in handling it, state terrorism and breakdown of law and order, mounting debt and enhanced taxes and the fate of capital Amaravati. With regard to Telangana, the party discussed the agricultural crisis in the state and the drastic cuts in the welfare budgets for various downtrodden sections.