TDP chief detained at Tirupati airport, stages sit-in protest

Why cant I go and meet the district Collector and the Superintendent of Police, Naidu asked the police officials and sat on the airport lounge floor.On the other hand, the Tirupati and Chittoor police placed top TDP leaders of the district under house arrest ahead of Naidus visit.TDP politburo member Yanamala Ramakrishnudu condemned the police action and said it further exposed the alleged draconian rule of Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.Detention of the Opposition leader is nothing but trampling civil liberties.

(EDS: RPT after updating with SP's press meet; departure of Naidu to Hyderabad) Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Mar 1 (PTI): Leader of Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly N Chandrababu Naidu staged a sit-in protest in the arrival lounge of the airport at Renigunta, near here, on Monday as police sought to detain him and prevent his entry into the temple town.

The Telugu Desam Party chief picked up an argument with the police officials and demanded to know why he was being prevented from going to Tirupati and Chittoor, 70 kms away.

Naidu arrived at the airport from Hyderabad to take part in a protest in Tirupati against the alleged high-handedness of the local civic authorities, and flew from here back to Hyderabad late in the evening.

Police had denied permission for the protest by citing the model code of conduct for (urban local body) elections and also the prevalence of coronavirus.

On Sunday, the Tirupati Municipal Corporation officials allegedly ransacked a tea stall belonging to a TDP leader whose wife was contesting the March 10 election.

It was alleged that the ruling YSR Congress wanted the TDP candidate to withdraw from the contest but she refused to and the stall of her husband was damaged.

To protest this, the TDP planned to organise a protest under Naidu's leadership.

Having denied permission for the protest, the Tirupati Urban police sought to detain the TDP president at the airport.

''I have been Chief Minister for 14 years and I am now the Leader of the Opposition. Don't I have the right to protest? Why can't I go and meet the district Collector and the Superintendent of Police,'' Naidu asked the police officials and sat on the airport lounge floor.

On the other hand, the Tirupati and Chittoor police placed top TDP leaders of the district under house arrest ahead of Naidu's visit.

TDP politburo member Yanamala Ramakrishnudu condemned the police action and said it further exposed the alleged draconian rule of Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

''Detention of the Opposition leader is nothing but trampling civil liberties. Is there a rule of law in Andhra Pradesh,'' Ramakrishnudu questioned in a statement.

TDP spokesperson NB Sudhakar Reddy told PTI that he also condemned the house arrests of TDP leaders across the district.

During his prolonged protest at the airport, Naidu did not take even a glass of water, Reddy said.

Meanwhile, Tirupati Superintendent of Police C Venkata Appala Naidu, in a press conference at his office here, told reporters that keeping in mind the official code of civic polls here, the sudden spurt in COVID-19 cases in the district and the visiting pilgrims, the permission for Naidus protest.

Naidu had planned the protest at the two statues of Mahatma Gandhi - one here and the other in Chittoor.

Later, the police chief also visited Naidu at the airport to convince him to fly back to Hyderabad.

Even an hour after dusk, the protest continued.

Speaking to reporters here, senior YSRCP leader and Minister for Panchayat Raj P Ramachandra Reddy said it was only a deliberate visit of Naidu.

Naidu was aware that everything was going well but he wanted to create a kind of disturbance here, Reddy said.

Naidu had arrived in Tirupati despite the model code of conduct in force here only to gain public sympathy through a section of the media, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)