Published Feb 01, 2026 | 11:24 AM ⚊ Updated Feb 01, 2026 | 11:24 AM
The TDP cadres across the state organised protests against the way the YSRC leader had abused the CM Naidu.
Synopsis: Violence erupted in Guntur on 31 January as police arrested YSRCP leader Ambati Rambabu for derogatory remarks against CM Chandrababu Naidu. His detention sparked clashes with TDP activists, stone-pelting, and attacks on his residence and office. YSRCP alleged a pre-planned assault, while police filed two cases against Rambabu for abusive language, threats, obstruction of duty, and inciting unrest.
High drama unfolded in Guntur late on Saturday night, 31 January, as police arrested YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader and former minister Ambati Rambabu amidst unbridled violence, political recriminations and street-level unrest.
The trouble broke out in the wake of the SIT report on ingredients of ghee that was used in making Tirumala Laddu Prasadam with the TDP and YSRCP interpreting the report differently.
Rambabu was taken into custody close to midnight for allegedly making obscene and derogatory remarks against Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. The arrest followed nearly six hours of tension at his residence, where police had confined him under heavy security after violence broke out outside.
He was shifted to the Nallapadu police station in an armoured Vajra vehicle. The transfer itself triggered fresh trouble, with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) activists hurling stones and eggs at the vehicle and raising slogans demanding strict action against him. To avert a breakdown of law and order, police drove the vehicle into the office premises, brought Rambabu out under tight security and placed him directly inside.
Along with Rambabu, YSRCP city leader Harikrishna Reddy and two women party leaders were also taken into custody. Several party workers who had gathered at the office were evacuated in a bus. Some protesters attempted to climb onto the police vehicle, while others pelted it with stones. Police used force to disperse the crowd.
As TDP workers continued to remain at the spot even after the arrest, authorities temporarily snapped power supply in the area as a precautionary measure.
The TDP cadres across the state organised protests against the way the YSRC leader had abused the CM Naidu. They set fire to Rambabu’s effigy at several places. They lodged complaints in police stations in Narasaraopet and Rompicherla in Palandu district.
The sequence of events began earlier in the day. After offering prayers at a temple in Gorantla, Rambabu was intercepted by TDP workers. They suspected that Rambabu was on his way to take down a flex banner at NTR Centre that YSRCP was responsible for the adulteration of Tirumala laddu. Rambabu on Friday set a 24-hour deadline to the TDP to remove the flex banner.
After prayers, he got into his car and began moving but the TDP workers ambushed him which led to a confrontation. He allegedly used abusive language against the CM during the altercation. Police intervened, diffused the situation and sent him away.
Later in the evening at about 5 pm Rambabu once again made provocative remarks at a press conference that even his dog is not afraid of the TDP’s Redbook. Trouble resurfaced soon after. Anticipating violence, police confined him to his office and imposed tight security. Protesters made repeated attempts to breach the barricades but were held back. He was later formally arrested.
Meanwhile, violence outside his residence escalated further. TDP leaders and activists allegedly attacked Rambabu’s residence for the second time late at night, attempting to break walls with hammers, smashing windows and pelting stones, rocks and debris, causing extensive damage. The TDP activists allegedly set fire to his office.
YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy described the attack on Rambabu as a complete collapse of law and order and called it an attempt to murder. He held CM Chandrababu Naidu responsible for the attack. He posted on X that Chandrababu Naidu’s conspiracy using Tirumala laddu prasadam had completely collapsed after reports form the premier national institutions NDDB and NDRI exposed the falsehood. “Unable to digest the truth, Naidu has now resorted to violence through goons,” he said.
Murder attempt on YSRCP former minister, Kapu Leader Ambati Rambabu has exposed the frightening collapse of law and order in Andhra Pradesh. In Guntur, thousands of TDP followers, acting in a pre planned and coordinated manner under the direction of MLA Galla Madhavi and with… pic.twitter.com/GJ522OefrF
— YSR Congress Party (@YSRCParty) January 31, 2026
The other YSRCP leaders described the attacks as pre-planned. They alleged that Guntur West MLA Galla Madhavi and her husband Galla Ramachandra Rao led hundreds of TDP activists armed with sticks and iron rods to Rambabu’s residence. Despite a heavy police presence, they claimed, the mob stormed both the house and the office.
The party further alleged that Rambabu’s wife and daughter locked themselves inside a room, fearing for their lives, and that several party workers sustained injuries. YSRCP leaders also accused the police of remaining passive for a long time before intervening.
Police registered two cases against Rambabu. The first case was based on a complaint by Guntur district TDP president Pilli Manikya Rao, accusing Rambabu of issuing death threats to TDP workers, using abusive and obscene language against the CM, attempting to incite unrest and conspiring to damage Naidu’s reputation. Sections 126(2), 196(1), 352, 351(2), 292 read with 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) were invoked.
The second case was registered on a complaint by Nallapadu sub-inspector K Ramakrishna. Police alleged that Rambabu attempted to remove a flex banner near the NTR statue at Billies Centre around 11.40 am, parked his car across the road and blocked traffic. When asked to move the vehicle, he allegedly refused and pushed the car door at the SI, injuring him. The case pertains to obstruction of official duty and causing public inconvenience.
(Edited by Amit Vasudev)
