VIJAYAWADA: Condemning the midnight arrests of the TDP leaders in Kuppam, Leader of the Opposition and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu has alleged that the police filed a false case and then arrested former Minister N Amarnath Reddy and TDP in charge for Tirupati parliamentary constituency Pulivarthi Venkata Mani Prasad (Nani).
These midnight arrests were made at the behest of the ruling YSRC leaders who want to prevent the TDP leaders from the election campaign, the TDP chief alleged. Naidu urged the State Election Commissioner (SEC) and the DGP to take immediate steps for the unconditional release of Amarnath Reddy and Pulivarthi Nani.
In separate letters addressed to the SEC and the DGP on Wednesday, the TDP chief said that the elections to 13 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) have turned into a farce and a black mark on democracy. “A section of police officials in connivance with the ruling YSRC have been making all attempts in creating hurdles to TDP candidates,” he alleged.
The TDP chief said that the police registered false cases against Amarnath Reddy and Nani on November 8. Instead of arresting them during the daytime, the police chose midnight hours in order to send wrong signals to the opposition leaders, he argued. Describing the current events as a mockery of democracy, he said the YSRC regime was reminiscent of the British Raj and Police Raj.
The police, instead of impeding TDP’s campaign, should focus on maintaining peace, law and order in order to ensure that the present local body elections are conducted peaceful manner, he suggested.Earlier, election authorities had illegally rejected nominations of TDP candidates and withdrawn their nominations through forged signatures.
High Court bars arrest of TDP leaders
The AP High Court has asked the Kuppam town police not to arrest the TDP leaders in the case filed by the personal secretary of Kuppam municipal corporation alleging that he was beaten up by them. Kuppam police registered a case against former minister N Amarnath Reddy, P Nani and former MLC G Srinivasulu. The three moved a lunch motion petition in the court seeking quashing of the case.