'Chalo Atmakur' fallout: TDP leaders, including Naidu and Lokesh, placed under house arrest

TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and his son Nara Lokesh have been placed under house arrest ahead of parties 'Chalo Atmakur' rally. With the TDP cadre not being allowed to protest, Naidu has called for a 12-hour hunger strike across the state. March was aimed at protesting against increasing attacks on TDP workers allegedly at the behest of the ruling YSRCP.

Hyderabad: TDP chief and former Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu and his son Nara Lokesh have been placed under house arrest ahead of the party’s call for a protest march today over increasing attacks on its workers allegedly at the behest of the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).

According to reports, Section 144 has been imposed in Narasaraopeta, Sattenapalle, Palnadu and Gurajala. With the TDP cadre not being allowed to protest, Naidu has called for a 12-hour hunger strike across the state.

Director-General of Police Gowtham Sawang had said on Tuesday that no meeting, rally, procession or protest could be staged in the region as Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code and Section 30 of the Police Act were in force.

With the TDP firm on staging the protest 'Chalo Atmakur', the police chief said nobody should create any law and order problem. "The political parties should cooperate with the police in maintaining peace," he added.

TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu had said that his party would go ahead with the protest to highlight the “excesses” committed on their cadre by the YSRCP leaders. The former chief minister, who was to lead the march, had asked party leaders and workers to stage protests wherever the police stopped them.

"I am warning the government and the police that they cannot play this type of politics and cannot arrest us like this. This government is violating human and fundamental right," Naidu said.

"We will continue our fight and will try to protect the right of villagers of Atmakur," Naidu opined.

Meanwhile, his son Nara Lokesh has claimed that Jaganmohan Reddy government is dictatorial and has killed the democracy.

"YSRCP is trying to strangulate our party across Andhra Pradesh. We were moving ahead in a democratic manner but our entire leadership was put under house arrest. This is murder of democracy," Lokesh said.

Stating that the TDP will go ahead with the protest, Naidu's son and party general secretary Nara Lokesh had tweeted that the “struggle would continue till justice is done to the victims of violence perpetrated by the YSRCP."

The TDP alleged 10 party workers had been killed, most of them in the Palnadu region, in the attacks by the YSRCP leaders. Over 500 TDP activists and sympathisers had been attacked since the announcement of election results in May, it added.

Naidu was also scheduled on Wednesday will be meeting the victims' violence at a camp in Guntur, set up by the TDP.

To counter the TDP's 'Chalo Atmakur' march, the YSRCP has decided to stage its own protest with victims of the attacks by TDP leaders.

YSRCP spokesman Ambati Rambabu said despite facing crushing defeat in the elections Naidu was resorting to gimmicks. The YSRCP at its rally would highlight the repression by TDP on its cadres, he said.