Tension prevailed at Amalapuram, Tadepalligudem and other areas in Andhra Pradesh on Friday, as the state unit of the BJP demanded that their party leaders who were under house arrest, be released. Several BJP leaders including state president Somu Veerraju in Vijayawada and former state party chief Kanna Lakshminarayana in Guntur were placed under house arrest by the Andhra Pradesh police since Thursday evening.
The move came as the BJP gave a call for a ‘Chalo Amalapuram’ protest on September 18 to protest over a fire accident at the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Antarvedi on September 6, in which an old chariot was gutted.
BJP leaders were detained in various districts including Anantapur, Chittoor, Kadapa, Kurnool, Srikakulam and others. Some of the leaders belonging to BJP and actor-politician Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party (JSP) were also stopped midway while travelling to Amalapuram from various locations.
Commenting on the police’s decision, Eluru Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police KV Mohan Rao told the media, “Certain parties are planning ‘Chalo Amalapuram, Chalo Antarvedi’ protests and trying to disturb peace in the Konaseema region. In those areas, Section 144 (prevention of Unlawful assembly) of the Criminal Procedural Code (CrPC) is already in place.”
He also clarified that no party has applied for permission and neither have the police given their nod for such a protest. Therefore, strict action would be taken on those who indulge in activities that cause disturbance to public peace, added the DIG.
Despite the preventive arrests and warnings, some local BJP leaders started assembling and raising slogans against the government. Hundreds of police personnel have already been placed in Amalapuram in East Godavari to prevent any untoward incident. All the routes to reach Amalapuram were blocked by the police.
BJP Rajya Sabha MPs GVL Narasimha Rao and CM Ramesh wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking his intervention on the issue.
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