Chandra Babu Naidu takes out Padayatra

Telugu Desam chief and former chief minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Jan. 04 took out a padayatra from the 121-Pedduru village in Chittoor district after he was prevented by the police from holding road shows and public meetings in Kuppam assembly constituency. Soon after Naidu arrived in Pedduru from Bengaluru, a team of police officers led by Palamaner SDPO Sudhakar Reddy stopped his convoy. Naidu was on his way to hold the party’s ‘Idemi Karma Mana Rashtraniki’ programme in Kuppam assembly constituency. An angry Naidu demanded that the police explain why his visit to Kuppam was being blocked. Naidu argued with the police that renewing the terms of the British Raj Act of 1861 through GO-1 was an absurd action. “How can the DGP and the Chief Minister prevent me from holding road shows and public meetings? I've been the Kuppam MLA since 1989. The GO is intended to prohibit me from reaching out to my people," Naidu said. Speaking to the media, Naidu lambasted Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for issuing the order that barred public gatherings and demonstrations on roads. The YSRC government was stifling the voice of the people and the opposition, he said.