Gannavaram, in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, has been a political battle zone for a few days now, thanks to the TDP and the YSRCP.
Published Feb 22, 2023 | 11:26 PM ⚊ Updated Feb 23, 2023 | 2:47 PM
A car was set ablaze at the TDP office in Gannavaram in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh. (Supplied)
Gannavaram in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh has been a battle zone for a few days now, thanks to separate incidents of violence by activists from the ruling YSRCP and the Opposition TDP.
According to the Krishna district’s Superintendent of Police (SP) P Joshua, it all started with provocative statements by a few TDP leaders — especially the Opposition party’s spokesperson Kommareddy Pattabhiram’s remarks against Gannavaram MLA Vallabhaneni Vamsi Mohan and former minister and Gudivada MLA Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao (Nani).
Vamsi, who had won the 2019 Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections on a TDP ticket, crossed over to the ruling YSRCP two years ago.
Provoked by the comments made by TDP leaders, followers of Vamsi went berserk and ransacked the TDP office in Gannavaram, destroying furniture. They also set ablaze a four-wheeler parked on the premises of the office on the afternoon of Monday, 20 February.
As the news about the attack spread, a group of Opposition party leaders along with Kommareddy Pattabhiram went to Gannavaram.
To avert any clash between the YSRCP and the TDP, the police rushed to the TDP office. While the cops were trying to control the crowd, a few miscreants attacked them on Monday evening.
While Circle Inspector K Kanaka Rao sustained severe injuries, a few other policemen were also hurt.
The police booked around 60 people from the TDP, including Pattabhiram, under Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 341 (wrongful restraining), 333 (voluntarily causing hurt), 353 (assault on a public servant to prevent him from discharging his duty), 307 (attempt to murder), 448 (trespassing), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.
Subsequently, they arrested 13 TDP leaders, including local TDP politicians Dontu Chinna and Gurumurthy, on Monday night.
Even as the arrested leaders were produced before a local magistrate, high drama marked all of Tuesday.
Pattabhiram’s wife Chandana threatened to sit on an indefinite hunger strike in front of the DGP office, demanding information about her husband.
She alleged that while Pattabhiram’s personal staff were seen at the police station, he was missing from among the TDP leaders who were arrested. He was subsequently produced before a local court.
During the hearing, Pattabhiram alleged that police used third-degree interrogation techniques upon him and caused injuries. He also alleged that some masked men attacked him while he was in police custody.
The magistrate sent Pattabhiram to a government hospital for examination, and the remaining arrested TDP leaders were sent to judicial remand for 14 days. Pattabhiram was sent to judicial custody on Wednesday, 22 February.
TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, who condemned the attack, visited Pattabhiram’s residence in Vijayawada on Tuesday to stand in solidarity with his family members. Pattabhiram’s wife Chandana said she was worried about his safety.
Several TDP leaders were placed under house arrest as the party had given a call for “Chalo Gannavaram” to protest against the attack on its office.
Meanwhile, Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday urged people to join the fight to save the state from the atrocities and destruction by the YSRCP.
In an open letter to the people of the state in the wake of the Gannavaram incident, Naidu said that the atrocities of the ruling YSRCP were increasing by the day, and that the dictatorial attitude of the chief minister was a major setback to democracy.
The state government was resorting to violent activities, filing false cases, and perpetrating attacks on Opposition party leaders for questioning its anti-democratic tendencies, Naidu said. Gannavaram was the latest and classic example of this, he added.
The TDP leaders were subjected to severe torture at Gannavaram and the party’s properties were destroyed, he said.
The affected TDP leaders were projected as the prime accused and sent to jail, said Naidu, adding that he was writing this open letter only to bring the facts to the notice of the public.
The local YSRCP leaders, with the cooperation of some police officials, caused total destruction on Monday and severely damaged the TDP office there, said Chandrababu Naidu.
This was a well-planned scheme as the YSRCP activists attacked the TDP leaders under the direct supervision of the local police officials, he claimed.
Squarely blaming the TDP leadership for the Gannavaram violence, YSRCP general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said the police maintained utmost restraint while a section of media spread venom, as was its wont.
He lashed out at a section of the media on Wednesday for reporting that Pattabhiram was beaten up by the police in connection with clashes, which he said was “fake news”.
Such news being published by the “yellow media” was worse than explosives, he said, adding that it was for the people to judge the credibility of such news outlets.
Why can’t police register cases against the TDP leaders for their remarks and attack on the police, he asked.
Sajjala also claimed that the YSRCP, while in the Opposition, refrained from such activities, abiding strictly by the law.
The YSRCP general secretary further said that for the last two years, it had become routine for the TDP leaders to create unrest among the people, which was highly deplorable.
