PNS | Vijayawada
Former minister and ruling party MLA Velampalli Srinivasa Rao accused TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu of being responsible for the violence in Punganur on Friday, alleging that Naidu resorted to these tactics as he feared defeat in the upcoming 2024 elections against the YSRCP. Velampalli criticised Naidu for betraying Rayalaseema despite holding the position of chief minister for 14 years. The clash erupted when Nara Chandrababu Naidu insisted on diverting from the prescribed route map and entering Punganur.
On Sunday, ruling party leaders led by Velampalli, along with city Mayor R Bhagyalakshmi and others, organised a protest against Chandrababu Naidu and TDP leaders for their attacks on the police and torching of police vehicles in Punganur.
Velampalli praised the corruption-free governance and implementation of welfare schemes in Andhra Pradesh, stating that the people were leading content lives due to these efforts. He asserted that Naidu’s meetings failed to garner any response, leading him to conspire to create law and order issues by provoking the TDP cadre against the police, who were responsible for providing security and protection to Chandrababu Naidu and other leaders.
Srinivasa Rao clarified that the police had granted permission to Naidu to conduct his yatra through a bypass at Punganur.
However, Naidu disregarded police appeals and entered Punganur, which led to the intervention of law enforcement to maintain order. The situation escalated when Chandrababu Naidu and his supporters allegedly attacked the police with stones and set police vehicles on fire, resulting in injuries to 50 policemen.
MLA Srinivas also questioned the silence of Pawan Kalyan regarding the attack on the police and accused Chandrababu of promoting violence for the sake of power.
Mayor Bhagyalakshmi condemned the attack on policemen by individuals affiliated with TDP. She and other leaders challenged Chandrababu Naidu to contest against Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy in the upcoming elections and prove his mettle by defeating the minister if he is confident. They asserted that Naidu lacked public support and had to rely on outsiders to create chaos in Punganur. They further stated that the Andhra public would give Naidu a fitting lesson in the forthcoming elections for these acts of violence.
