YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday condemned the arrest of party MLC and general secretary Lella Appi Reddy, accusing the TDP-led NDA coalition government of misusing its power to suppress protests over alleged irregularities in the recently concluded local body elections.
The former chief minister alleged that false cases were being filed and party leaders, workers and members of the public were being arbitrarily arrested for peacefully protesting alongside YSRCP candidates.
"I strongly condemn the illegal arrest and detention of YSRCP MLC and party general secretary Lella Appi Reddy.
"Filing false cases, making arbitrary arrests and detaining those who peacefully protested alongside our party candidates and the public against electoral irregularities is an outrageous abuse of power," Jagan said in a post on X.
Jagan claimed that YSRCP leaders, workers and members of the public had noticed an irregularity when ballot boxes meant to be transported to the strong room were found on a road at Nallapadu. They subsequently staged a peaceful protest, he said.
The ballot boxes belonged to Vengalayapalem village in Guntur Rural mandal, where polling for the Parishad elections concluded on Thursday.
Questioning the circumstances surrounding the incident, Jagan asked why the ballot boxes had been unloaded midway at Nallapadu instead of being transported directly to Nagarjuna University. He also sought to know whose instructions led to their unloading and why adequate security arrangements had not been made during transportation.
"Do you respond by ordering a lathi charge against them? You commit irregularities, attempt to replace ballot boxes, and then file illegal cases against our people? Would you even go so far as to book an MLC for dacoity and theft?" he asked.
Jagan further accused the coalition government of manipulating various stages of the local body elections, including the nomination process, scrutiny of nominations, polling booths and polling percentages. He questioned whether ballot boxes were also being tampered with after polling had concluded.
Targeting Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Jagan alleged that the government was using the police machinery to silence those questioning the alleged electoral irregularities.
"The entire country is watching your (Naidu's) undemocratic methods.
"People will not remain silent spectators. They will not tolerate such atrocities and will teach you a fitting lesson," he said.
There was no immediate reaction from the ruling TDP to Jagan's allegations.
(With inputs from PTI)