Naidu, others condemn Patrudu's arrest

 Vijayawada: Telugu Desam supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu condemned the arrest of party senior leader and former minister Chinthakayala Ayyanna Patrudu by police on Friday.

Naidu slammed the YSRC regime for conspiring to target the BC leader right from the beginning of forming its government, as Patrudu had been exposing the failures of the YSRC government.

He expressed his ire against the police for arresting the leader by foisting false cases against him. He wondered how police could “abduct” leaders from opposition parties in the state.

The TD chief observed that if their leader Patrudu has been arrested due to his constant criticism of the state government, what could be the fate of ministers like R.K. Roja and several YSR Congress leaders, who have been targeting him (Naidu) with critical remarks. “They should be sent to jail for life term,” he remarked.

The former chief minister cautioned police from getting involved in illegal acts of the government by foisting false cases against opposition leaders. They will have to pay the price once Telugu Desam is elected to power in the upcoming elections, he stated.

TD national general secretary Nara Lokesh termed Ayyanna Patrudu’s arrest an anti-democratic measure. “Ayyanna has only been voicing the peoples’ resentment against the government,” he underlined.

In Visakhapatnam, Vizag district president and former Gajuwaka MLA Palla Srinivasa Rao and former MLA Gandi Babji strongly condemned Patrudu’s arrest, calling it a kidnap by plainclothesmen.

“This is the beginning of the end of YSRC government,” they declared.