TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, son Nara Lokesh placed under house arrest

Earlier on Wednesday, it was reported that the Andhra Pradesh police had put several TDP leaders under house arrest in view of the party’s call for the ‘Chalo Atmakur’ rally

Telugu Desam Chief N Chandrababu Naidu and his son N Lokesh were placed under house arrest while several party leaders, including MLAs were taken into custody on Wednesday in an bid to stop them from organising an agitation in Guntur district against alleged eviction of some villagers.

Simultaneously, some leaders of the ruling YSR Congress were also detained in Guntur as they too gave a call for a similar programme as a counter to the TDP. The TDP announced that chandrababau Naidu would be observing a day-long fast inside his riverfront residence at Undavalli here in protest against the police action. The TDP President wanted to lead a group of people belonging to Palnadu region of Guntur district to a village called Atmakuru. “I have planned to go to Atmakuru to drop the villagers

who were driven out by YSRC men and police back in their village. This is not an agitation but solidarity with the people who are victims of political factionism,” Naidu, who is the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, said. Alleging that the TDP was only seeking to create a scene using “paid artists,” the YSRC too gave a call for ‘Chalo Atmakuru’ but police denied permission to both sides and clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 Cr PC.

Did Andhra govt sanction Rs 11 cr for Naidu’s Delhi protest? TDP differs

Chandrababu Naidu protested at Delhi’s Andhra Bhavan demanding that the Centre fulfil all promises made during Andhra Pradesh’s bifurcation in 2014 and grant a special category status to the state

Current Affairs: If the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s one-day long hunger strike in Delhi did indeed cause the state exchequer a whopping Rs 11 crore, protests are becoming an expensive affair. The state government reportedly released an order on February 6 allocating Rs 11.12 crore as part of the protest expenditure. The state government booked two special trains with twenty coaches each to ferry those attending the protest. The government reportedly sanctioned Rs 1.2 crore for the same and released another Rs 10 crore for “meeting the expenditure of the one-day protest in New Delhi.” Around 1100 rooms were also booked for those attending the protest.

“Government of Andhra Pradesh has decided to hire two special trains with 20 compartments each from South Central Railways, Secunderabad, i.e., starting one (1) train from Ananthapuramu and another from Srikakulam to reach New Delhi by 10.02.2019 to transport interested Political parties, organisations, NGOs associations, etc.. to participate in one day Deeksha (Protest) at New Delhi on 11.02.2019 to be led by the chief minister,” stated the government release.

The government order stated that the money was to be spent on “transportation of participants from different regions of Andhra Pradesh” and “payments of other bills”.However, according to India Today, the ruling Telugu Desam Party on Tuesday clarified that only Rs 2 crore was spent for the protest and that the Budget Release Order refers to the provision of Rs 8 crore for other state functions. It also said that the party has been organising ‘Dharma Porata Deeksha’ across the state since 2017 demanding a special category status, therefore, the protest was not a political function…Read More