Stone-Pelting Incident: TDP, Jana Sena smell conspiracy

Vijayawada: Opposition parties -- TDP and Jana Sena -- on Sunday alleged that the government-sponsored poll violence had begun in the state and demanded that the Election Commission should take immediate action and change the Chief Secretary and the DGP to ensure that free, fair and violence-less polling takes place in the state.

Even while the stone-pelting incident on Saturday in which Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy suffered mild injury was being probed, two more incidents took place on Sunday. Stones were pelted on TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu at Gajuwaka Prajagalam meeting and on Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan in Tenali. But the stones fell at a distance, and no one was injured. While in Tenali the culprit was caught, beaten and handed over to the police. In Gajuwaka, those who pelted stones, ran away into the adjacent lanes.

Condemning this incident, Naidu said the YSRCP drama is fully exposed. He said there are several questions that need to be answered by the government.

How and why there was power failure when the CM roadshow was on.

Even if we presume it was technical failure, what action has the government taken on the officials concerned. What action has been taken on the police and intelligence officials who are responsible for his security, Naidu questioned.

He said soon after the incident, he and other leaders even the Prime Minister condemned the attack on Jagan. But what did the YSRCP do. “Within minutes, they came up with placards alleging that it was me who was responsible for it.”

He said the “many dogs,” were barking at him alleging he was responsible for the incident. Naidu said he does not have criminal record. His record was to crush criminals, he added.

On the other hand, Pawan Kalyan condemning the stone pelting on his vehicle and on Naidu, said it was an act of cowards. A small stone hit him and his followers, he said.

“What happened when a 15-year-old boy was burnt to death? Jagan, what happened when Dr was killed? Who knows, he himself afflicted an injury on him? There was no power, how do we know? He asked. Just before the elections someone injures himself and someone gets killed. What drama is this,” he asked.

He recalled the incidents when he was stopped at the Vizag airport. “I was attacked in Amravati when I went to express solidarity with the protesting farmers with sticks and stones and the DGP had the cheek to say that it was an expression of anger by some people,” Pawan asked.

He asked the people to recall the incident when Jagan had “enacted the drama of attack on him which is now known as ‘Kodi Katti drama’ in 2019 and how Jagan’s uncle Y S Vivekananda Reddy was killed and how he had thrown out his sisters and mother on to the streets. He appealed to the people to exercise their franchise and defeat the YSRCP.