Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday arrived in Visakhapatnam, as part of a two-day visit to the city, for strengthening the party in the region.
Naidu was welcomed by party leaders at the Visakhapatnam airport and held a review meeting on Thursday, to take stock of the party's situation in the coastal city.
Addressing party workers later in the day, Naidu assured them that the TDP would bounce back and emerge stronger. The TDP had suffered a major upset as it managed to win only 23 MLA seats out of the 175 seats in the Legislative Assembly polls which were held earlier this year.
Chandrababu Naidu also attacked the YSRCP and said that it was using state machinery to clamp down on dissent, and harass TDP workers.
"I have been a Chief Minister of the state for 14 years and know in and out of the state. I warn the state police to realise that political parties are permanent, and no party will remain in power forever. I have been fighting for my party workers for four months," Naidu was quoted as saying.
"I am fighting against a government of criminals for the first time. 12 TDP cadre were killed, 570 attacks on TDP cadre took place. Cases were lodged against 40 people for their posts on social media and 14 were sent to jail," he added.
Assuring TDP workers that the party would fight their legal cases and stating that he would even "beg for donations" if required, Naidu added, "The police are turning a blind eye to our complaints against the ruling party leaders with evidence on the abusive social media posts. But, if the ruling party is lodging complaints against our cadres, cases are booked instantly."
Earlier this month, the TDP chief had warned Director General of Police Gautam Sawang that he would consider legal action against the police department if they continue harassing his cadre.