Kurnool: The arrest of former chief minister and Telugu Desam chief N. Chandrababu Naidu has only had a minor impact in Kurnool region, with local leaders holding only nominal protests, both on the day of arrest and the following day.
On Saturday, senior leaders who had been in Nandyal to attend Chandrababu's programmes had been arrested, while others were placed under house arrest. But there has been no spontaneous reaction from second or third line party members in the form of significant protests. Some senior leaders and district in-charges confined their protests to the party offices and media conferences.
Kurnool district has seven assembly constituencies, with Nandyal district having another seven. On Saturday, only a handful of leaders staged protests in towns, such as Dhone, Kurnool, Adoni, Mantralayam, and Bandi Atmakur. Some others took out protests in the evening. These activities remained largely nominal, with no significant disturbances within the city limits.
An official from the traffic police wing said there had been just one or two minor protests within the entire city limits on Saturday and Sunday. There had been no significant disruption in traffic or any major inconvenience to commuters.
TD leaders have attributed this subdued response to absence of senior party leaders, who have been either placed under house arrest or detained. Consequently, on Sunday, Telugu Desam party's state president Kinjarapu Atchannaidu called on leaders and cadres to stage relay hunger protests. Subsequently, leaders organised protests at all constituency headquarters in protest against the arrest of their leader.
A senior party leader explained that party workers typically rely on day-to-day guidance from top leaders. They have not received clear instructions in the last two days. Therefore, they chose to remain relatively quiet.
Another leader, who prefers not to be identified, mentioned that the party cadres are deeply shocked by the arrest of the party chief. In the process, they had been unable to take any decisions regarding spontaneous protests.
