Even as the Telugu Desam Party is trying to gain the public sympathy over the tragic death of eight party sympathisers in the stampede at the public rally of party president N Chandrababu Naidu at Kandukuru on Wednesday night, the YSR Congress party quickly reacted and sought to blame it on Naidu’s craze for publicity.
Within hours of the tragedy, several ministers of Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy cabinet went hammer and tongs at the TDP chief for seeking to gain public sympathy over the deaths of eight people.
State tourism minister R K Roja said the police should register a case against Naidu making him accused No. 1 (A-1) in the Kandukuru stampede deaths, as it was his penchant for publicity that claimed eight lives.
“Naidu deliberately held the rally in a narrow lane in order to show that there were huge crowds for his meeting. Because there was hardly any space for the people to stand, it led to a stampede-like situation,” Roja said.
She said the court should take up this case suo motu and order a criminal case against Naidu.
“He should be booked for attempt to murder case. They were blatant political murders,” she said and demanded that Naidu should pay Rs 2 crore to each of the families of the deceased and Rs 1 crore to the injured.
State information and public relations minister Ch Srinivasa Venugopala Krishna said Naidu had lost his mental balance.
“His publicity craze took 29 lives during Godavari Pushkaralu in 2014 and now, he took eight lives. He has no vision at all,” he said.
YSRC MLA from Kandukuru Manugunta Maheedhar Reddy said the tragedy took place because of the flex boards erected by the local TDP leaders.
Similar allegation was made by former minister and Ongole MLA Balineni Srinivas Reddy.
