VIJAYAWADA: A delegation of YSRC former MPs, led by party general secretary Vijaya Sai Reddy, met President Ram Nath Kovind and sought his intervention in directing a probe into the attack on party chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy by an agency not under the State government’s control.
The delegation handed over a letter written by Jagan to the President. In the letter, Jagan detailed what has happened since the attack on him at Visakhapatnam International Airport on October 25. He said the assailant, under the pretext of taking a selfie with him, had tried to slash his throat with a knife used in cockfights.
Jagan wondered how the attacker could bring a sharp weapon into the VIP lounge area of the airport, where security was supposed to be tight. The attacker was an employee of a restaurant owned by Harshavardhan, a TDP leader, who has close links with IT Minister Nara Lokesh and other senior party leaders, he said.
In the six-page letter, the Leader of Opposition accused the government of probing the incident in a predetermined manner. He claimed the probing agency has purportedly arrived at a premature conclusion and sought to portray it as an internal ploy of the YSRC. While Jagan was undergoing treatment, TDP leaders and some officials issued press statements depicting the attack as the handiwork of YSRC with an intent to seek sympathy in the upcoming poll, the letter said.
Speaking to media persons, Vijaya Sai Reddy said there was a conspiracy to assassinate Jagan. They suspected the hand of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, ministers Adinarayana Reddy, MLA Yarapathineni Srinivasa Rao, actor Sivaji and Harshavardhan. They also claimed that DGP RP Thakur too was aware of the conspiracy.
“We met the President urging him for an impartial inquiry and he responded positively. The main accused and conspirator behind the attack on Jagan is Naidu himself. If not today, the facts would come out after the elections and all those involved will go to jail,” he said.