Ruling YSRCP leader and the party’s candidate for the upcoming assembly polls from the North constituency, KK Raju, on Saturday led a protest against the alleged stone pelting at Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy at Vijaywada.
Leading the line at the protest along with hundreds of supporters of the ruling party, Raju, who is also the chairman of the Non-Conventional Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited (NREDCAP), staged a sit-in and chanted slogans condemning the attack on the chief minister.
Claiming that the principal Opposition force in the state, the TDP, along with its NDA partners, the BJP and the Jana Sena Party of actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan, orchestrated the stone pelting, the YSRCP leader told reporters, “The TDP and its allies (BJP and JSP) were behind this attack. They pelted stones at Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy’s convoy.”
“The CM has been striving day and night for the last five years for the welfare of the poor. Jagan Reddy stood for the state’s poor, upholding and safeguarding their interests. This was a cowardly attack on him. Instead of targeting him this way, the Opposition alliance should fight him in the elections. I urge the police to take necessary action and bring the culprits to book at the earliest,” he added.
State IT Minister Gudivada Amarnath also condemned the attack on CM Jagan Reddy in Vijayawada during the ‘Memantha Siddham’ roadshow.
“YSRCP activists all over the state and the supporters of Jaganmohan Reddy all across the world have come out condemning this attack on our CM. If you (TDP) think that Jagan is scared of Chandrababu (party chief and former CM N Chandrababu Naidu) and the old-fashioned attacks orchestrated by him and his allies, you are mistaken. The TDP, which was responsible for the murder of Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga in the same Vijayawada area, orchestrated the stone pelting at CM Jagan today,” the minister alleged.
He claimed that the TDP couldn’t stomach the tremendous response to the CM’s ongoing roadshow ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state.
“Worried that the (Opposition) alliance isn’t drawing public support, Chandrababu is taking such provocative actions against our leader and chief minister. He fears defeat in the upcoming elections. This was a dastardly attack. However, the people will give a fitting reply to this and the rule of law and democracy will prevail. On June 4 (the counting day for the Lok Sabha and assembly polls), the people will take the onus on themselves to throw the TDP out of the state,” Amarnath said.
Earlier, in the evening, Jagan was injured in a stone-pelting attack during the ‘Memantha Siddham’ bus yatra in Vijayawada.
According to sources in the YSR Congress, an unidentified individual hurled a stone at the chief minister, leaving a deep gash on his left eyebrow.
The party informed that he was administered first-aid on the bus itself.
Thereafter, CM Jagan continued his bus journey, party sources added.