JP forced to suspend yatra

United AP protagonists vent their ire at the Lok Satta leader

Samaikyandra JAC activists destroying a banner of Lok Satta party national president Jayaprakash Narayan in Anantapur on Sunday. Photo: R.V.S. Prasad

Loksatta Party national president Jayaprakash Narayan decided to suspend his tour of the Seemandhra districts due to the unrelenting nature of the Samaikyandhra activists in Anantapur on Sunday and in Kurnool, the other day.

Mr. Narayan who began his ‘Telugu Tejam’ yatra in Anantapur district with a round table conference encountered trouble from the employees associations comprising teachers and revenue officials besides lawyers demanding Mr. Jayaprakash Narayan to spell his stand on the division of the State . With the Lok Satta leader sticking to his guns that he was only talking about safeguarding the interest of the people of all the regions of the State, the scene turned into a ruckus leading to verbal duels between the party members of the Lok Satta and the employee association members.

Speaking to

The Hindu , a senior leader of the Lok Satta from Anantapur district K. Kondiah said that Mr. Narayan had chosen to call off the ‘Telugu Tejam’ tour as the permission for the proposed meetings at Kadapa and Tirupati were yet to be accorded by the authorities. Moreover, the situation in the region is not conducive for a rational debate.

Earlier, speaking in the relatively small window of time he was allowed to speak,

Mr. Narayan said that the Congress had given prominence to political expediency than the interests of the people of the State which was the reason for the continued protests in the Seemandhra regions. He said that the demands of the people of the Rayalaseema and Andhra were legitimate.