YSRC Protests PPP Plan for Medical Colleges, Leaders Held

Former MP and YSRC official spokesperson M. Bharat, along with his followers, planned to launch a rally from his house when police reached the spot and attempted to detain him. Bharat and his supporters staged picketing and raised slogans against the alliance government and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. The police forcibly dragged Bharat away from the protest.

Bharat alleged that Chandrababu Naidu’s government was behaving like a dictatorship and that democracy no longer existed in the state. He claimed that despite 16 years as Chief Minister, Chandrababu had not established a single government medical college. In contrast, he said, the YSRC government had initiated 17 medical colleges.

He criticised the move to shift them into the PPP mode, saying it would make medical education inaccessible to poorer students. He also questioned the government’s claim that colleges were still under construction while MBBS second-year examinations were already under way in some.

He demanded that Chandrababu bring funds from the Centre to complete the medical colleges instead of privatising them. He also accused the alliance government of sidelining the Aarogyasri scheme.

Police also made a preventive arrest of former Rajanagaram MLA Jakkampudi Raja at his house, sparking opposition from his supporters. Former Minister Chelluboyina Srinivasa Venu Gopalakrishna was similarly detained at Ramachandrapuram.