Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national general secretary N. Lokesh has accused the ruling YSR Congress Party of unleashing terror on the opposition parties in Kadapa district with a view to controlling the people.
Mr. Lokesh was here on Tuesday to call on the jailed Proddutur constituency in-charge G.V. Praveen Kumar Reddy during the ‘Mulaqat’ at the central prison, besides calling on his family members.
Though the police had served a notice on Mr. Lokesh ahead of his arrival at the Kadapa airport, stating that the district TDP unit would be held responsible for any unforeseen turn of events, the visit went on smoothly as planned without any glitches.
Addressing the media after visiting the jailed leader, Mr. Lokesh wondered what had prompted the police to swoop down on the party leader around midnight without any provocation.
Recalling the arrest of Pulivendula in-charge ‘B.Tech’ Ravi and Polit Bureau member Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu, and booking of cases against former Union Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, he said it was an indication of not only the ruling party’s intolerance but also a sense of fear gripping its leaders.
“The police have registered cases on nearly 5,000 TDP activists and leaders across the State ever since Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy became the Chief Minister in 2019,” he said.
The TDP workers would not be cowed by such intimidating tactics, he said.
Mr. Lokesh accused YSRCP MLA R. Sivaprasad Reddy of reviving faction culture in his constituency.
Referring to the murder of TDP worker Nandam Subbaiah and “lack of progress” in former MP Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy’s murder case, he wondered if the government was functioning at all.
