Day after attack on Jagan Mohan Reddy, spate of protests in Andhra as YSRCP blames TDP

Also Read: Stone flung at CM Jagan during YSRCP bus yatra in Vijayawada, leaves him injured

The attack on CM

The attack took place when the chief minister’s bus reached Daba Kotlu Centre at Singhnagar in Vijayawada. Someone threw a sharp object that hit him a little above his left eye.

The chief minister lost balance and was supported by his aides.

Vijayawada West MLA Vellampalli Srinivas, who was accompanying Jagan, also sustained an injury in the incident.

The police launch a probe immediately. They concluded that someone threw the stone through the window of a room in the nearby Vivekananda School, some 20-30 ft from where Jagan was standing.

Srinivas later said that he was taken aback when the attack took place and demanded the Election Commission to take action against the culprits.

He also accused TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu of resorting to debased politics against Jagan. “It comes as second nature for Naidu to resort to such heinous attacks,” he said.

Related: Andhra CM Jagan Mohan Reddy injured in stone attack

TDP blamed for attack

Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, advisor to Government (Public Affairs) expressed surprise over the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) seeking an inquiry into security lapse instead of seeking action against the culprit. The TDP termed it stage-managed, he said.

“Would anyone talk like this? Would anyone organise an attack on a sensitive part of his body like the eye?” Sajjala asked and wondered whether any human could call such an attack a sham.

Leaders were always in the midst of the people during elections and they were prone to attack, he said. The attacker would have the advantage since the assault was planned, despite the tight security.

Except TDP leaders, all others across the country condemned the attack and sympathised with Jagan, he said.

Also Read: No Indian state can compete with Andhra in terms of welfare: Jagan

Minister stages rasta roko

The YSRCP leader said that Naidu began inciting the party workers after watching the increasing response to Jagan’s road shows.

Sajjala played a video clipping, which showed Naidu purportedly asking party workers to pelt stones at YSRCP leaders and defeat the party in the elections.

He said there was a strong possibility of TDP workers behind the attack, going by the leaders’ statements, though he did not know who were the assailants.

“There is no need for anyone to attack the chief minister, except the Telugu Desam Party, but I do not know who they actually are,” he said.

On Sunday, the YSRCP leaders and workers turned the attack into an issue and tried to paralyze normal life throughout the entire state.

Minister RK Roja staged a rasta roko at Puttur in the Tirupati district. She said the attack indicated the level of intolerance of the TDP towards people’s overwhelming response to Jagan.

Also Read: TDP-BJP-JSP meet decides to form coordination panel for aggressive poll campaign

Attack a sham, to gain sympathy, says TDP

Several ministers and leaders condemned the attack and blamed Naidu and JSP chief Pawan Kalyan. In Tirupati, TTD chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy staged a silent protest.

The YSRCP came down heavily on the TDP for what it called double-speak.

Even as Naidu condemned the attack and sought action against the officials for the lapse in providing security, the TDP posted pictures on the social media indicating that the attack was a sham and that it was intended to gain sympathy ahead of the elections.

In a post on X, Naidu condemned the incident and sought action against the police officers for the security lapses. The post was made after Prime Minister Narendra Modi decried the attack and wished Jagan a speedy recovery.

But the TDP’s official media account compared the stone pelting with an assault on Jagan with a kodi kathi (spur used in cockfights) by a youth at Visakhapatnam Airport when he was in the Opposition on 25 October 2018, ahead of the 2019 general elections.

Also Read: AP Cong chief Sharmila says no similarity between Jagan and YSR

The kodi kathi attack

The party posted the picture of kodi kathi and the photo of a stone, saying such incidents were common when the elections drew closer.

The implication was that the attack on Jagan was orchestrated and was similar to knife attack on him, intended to whip up sympathy for the YSRCP leader.

When the knife attack took place, Naidu had made fun of it and wondered how the assailant could stab him with a small knife, the size of a scalpel, if he really wanted to assassinate him.

After Naidu posted his message condemning the attack, his critics, mostly YSRCP leaders, said the TDP president was shedding crocodile tears.

They held that Naidu sought an inquiry into police department’s failure rather than demanding action against the perpetrators of the attack. It was only to control the police department, they alleged.

(Edited by Shauqueen Mizaj)