Terming the “pulling down of the Anna Canteen by the YSRCP cadre” at Kuppam as “atrocious and inhuman,” Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu said on Thursday that the downfall of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy started from the soil of Kuppam.
Amidst tense moments after the attack on the Anna Canteen, followed by a lathi-charge by the police on the TDP cadre in a bid to prevent them from attacking MLC Bharath’s residence, the TDP supremo marched to the dismantled Anna Canteen venue near the RTC bus stand and squatted on the road in protest against the “atrocities of the ruling party.”
‘Black day’
Later, addressing a huge gathering of the party cadre and the general public from the campaign vehicle, Mr. Naidu said the attack on the Anna Canteen marked a black day in the history of the peace-loving people of Kuppam.
“I have never seen a person so heinous like Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy. It is brutal to destroy Anna Canteen, where food has been kept for distribution among the poor,” the former Chief Minister said, and held both the Chief Minister and district in-charge Minister P. Ramachandra Reddy responsible for the incident.
Dig at police
“The YSRCP is unleashing street bullies and rowdies against the TDP cadre. If not for the support of the police, the YSRCP workers could not have vandalised the canteen. Though the police station is nearby, the police did nothing to stop the attack. What will the YSRCP cadre do if we the TDP functionaries too attack them? Where is the Superintendent of Police? If you (YSRCP cadre) attack us, we will come to your houses to attack you,” an angry Mr. Naidu said.
“If Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy has 60,000 police personnel, the TDP has 60 lakh activists,” Mr. Naidu said, and presented an injured party worker before the public.
The former Chief Minister said he had questioned and stopped the illegal granite mining and rice smuggling in Kuppam.
“The police system has collapsed. Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy has promoted bullies and rowdies as Ministers. They want to win by intimidating the TDP workers. We will never be cowed by such tactics. The TDP will fight the false cases and the police legally. If people remain silent, the unruly elements in the ruling party will come and attack their houses,” Mr. Naidu said.
“With the closure of schools and stopping of RTC buses, Kuppam is going through a tough phase. Unlike my usual style, I am forced to talk tough as the time has come to take a tough stand,” Mr. Naidu said.
