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Four days after YSR Congress Party leader and former minister Ambati Rambabu was arrested and remanded to judicial custody over his comments against Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, former CM and YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy visited his family in Guntur to console them.
Addressing the media after meeting Rambabu’s family on February 4, Jagan warned Chief Minister Naidu that “if ‘jungle raj’ continues in the state, YSRCP cadre will hit back and teach a fitting lesson.”
Ambati Rambabu was arrested on January 31 after being booked in two separate cases, including one for allegedly making derogatory remarks against CM Naidu after the chargesheet in the Tirupati laddu ghee adulteration case showed no indication of animal fat, contrary to earlier claims by Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan. The other case pertains to Rambabu allegedly pushing a sub-inspector of police on duty.
Following his remarks against Naidu, visuals surfaced showing scores of alleged TDP workers ransacking Rambabu’s house and vehicles. He was remanded to 14 days of judicial custody on February 1.
Speaking to the media on February 4, Jagan said, “Chandrababu Naidu has been trying to distort facts after his bluff was called in the Tirupati laddu adulteration case. With laboratories under the Union government giving a clean chit, the coalition government is now attempting a makeover by ordering yet another committee to probe the issue,” referring to a Cabinet decision taken on February 3.
He pointed out that the Supreme Court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Investigation Team (SIT) chargesheet made no mention of animal fat being used in the laddus and that none of the TTD chairpersons of that period or YSRCP members were named.
Jagan said the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) reports submitted by the CBI SIT clearly stated that there was no animal fat in the ghee samples.
“With Chandrababu’s blatant lies being exposed by NDDB and NDRI laboratory reports, instead of repenting, he has resorted to diverting public attention by unleashing misinformation and putting up provocative posters across the state to malign political adversaries, right under the nose of the police,” he said.
He alleged that the issue was part of a conspiracy hatched by Chandrababu Naidu, his son Nara Lokesh, and Pawan Kalyan to divert attention from the lab reports.
Jagan said cases were foisted against leaders such as Ambati Rambabu, Jogi Ramesh, Vidadala Rajini, Kakani Govardhan Reddy and Bolla Brahmanaidu after they questioned the alleged misuse of power, and that TDP workers attacked the houses of Ambati Rambabu and Jogi Ramesh with weapons.
“While Ambati Rambabu bore the brunt of TDP hooliganism, false cases were booked against him, proving that ‘jungle raj’ continues unabated in the state,” he said.
“We will not take it lying low. In the coming days, we will explore all avenues and fight this with renewed vigour,” he added.
The YSRCP has also approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), seeking a probe into the attacks on its leaders’ houses.
Party representatives said the NHRC chairperson responded positively and indicated that a report would be sought from the Director General of Police, with the possibility of a fact-finding team visiting the state.
Members of the delegation included MPs YV Subba Reddy, Mithun Reddy, Gurumoorthy, Golla Babu Rao, Meda Raghunath Reddy, Subhash Chandra Bose, Ayodhya Ramireddy and Tanuja Rani, along with SC Cell president Sudhakar Babu and former Ministers Merugu Nagarjuna and Adimulapu Suresh.
With IANS inputs