TDP, YSRCP activists clash during Jagan's Podili visit
Vijayawada: Tension prevailed as TDP and YSRCP activists clashed and pelted stones at each other during former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's visit to the tobacco auction platform in Podili on Wednesday.
The confrontation resulted in injuries to at least three police constables and two women. Additional police forces were deployed to the town to restore order.
The disturbance began when TDP women activists protested against Jagan's visit by hoisting black balloons and displaying placards. They vocally opposed Jagan, demanding an apology for the recent controversy over comments on Amaravati women on a TV channel.
YSRCP activists countered the protest with their own slogans and attempted to disperse the TDP activists. The situation escalated when TDP members hurled stones and chappals at Jagan's convoy, prompting retaliatory action from YSRCP supporters.
Police had a tough time in managing the warring groups.
Condemned the incident, HRD minister Nara Lokesh warned that the govt would not tolerate assaults on women. "Women held the protest in a peaceful manner, and it is a shame that YSRCP chief Jagan encouraged his party members to attack women.
We will not spare anyone who attacked women," he said. In response, YSRCP spokesperson and former minister Ambati Rambabu accused Lokesh of instigating the protests. "This is a deliberate ploy to generate law and order trouble.
The ruling party encouraged similar protests during Jagan's recent visit to Tenali," Ambati stated.
YSRCP women's wing president and MLC Varadu Kalyani too slammed TDP for "exploiting" women in what she termed "shameful diversion politics".
"It is disgraceful that chief minister Chandrababu Naidu is stooping to such low tactics, using women to shield his administration's incompetence," she alleged, while claiming that unable to tolerate Jagan's connection with the masses, Naidu and Lokesh are resorting to "cheap diversion tactics".
Later, during his interaction with tobacco farmers, Jagan criticised the govt for neglecting them and pushing them into severe distress. He attributed the rise in tobacco farmers' suicides over the past two months to the state govt's inaction and demanded that the govt assign Markfed as a buyer to ensure fair pricing.
Highlighting the drastic fall in tobacco prices compared to previous year, he noted that prices have plummeted from Rs 360 per kg during the YSRCP regime to Rs 240 per kg for graded varieties in the current season.
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