A day after the stone attack on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, similar attempts were made by unidentified persons on Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena Party (JSP) leader Pawan Kalyan on Sunday.
However, both Naidu and Pawan Kalyan escaped unhurt in the separate incidents that occurred in Guntur and Visakhapatnam, respectively.
Unidentified persons pelted stones at the opposition leaders when they were addressing people as part of the election campaign.
There was tension during former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s public meeting in Gajuwaka in Visakhapatnam when unidentified persons pelted stones at him. The stones, however, missed the target.
The assailants pelted stones from behind the Parajagalam vehicle. TDP workers tried to apprehend them but they managed to escape.
Chandrababu Naidu expressed anger at the incident and issued a stern warning to those responsible. He asserted that he is not intimidated by such attacks. Security personnel were put on alert following the stone-throwing incident.
"Stones were thrown here. People won't let them get away and will drive them out. The Ganja and blade gangs have also arrived here. I don't know what the police are doing. I will also address the drama that happened yesterday in Vijayawada," he said.
The TDP chief warned those involved to stop resorting to such cheap tricks saying people will revolt and punish them by exposing them.
"There was no electricity when stones were thrown at Jagan in Vijayawada. Who should own responsibility for power breakdown during the Chief Minister’s meeting," he asked.
He alleged that Jagan Mohan Reddy earlier played ‘Kodi Kathi drama’ in 2018. He was referring to the knife attack on the YSRCP leader at Visakhapatnam Airport. Naidu said Jagan Mohan Reddy also tried to blame him for his uncle Vivekananda Reddy’s murder in 2019. He alleged that Jagan Mohan Reddy won the election with sympathy after the murder of his uncle.
Stones were also pelted on Pawan Kalyan when he was campaigning at Tenali in Guntur district on Sunday.
Sunday’s incidents came a day after Jagan Mohan Reddy was injured when someone pelted a stone while he was campaigning in Vijayawada. The YSRCP chief sustained an injury on his left eyebrow after being hit by a stone in the Ajit Singh Nagar area on Saturday.
As part of ‘Memantha Siddham Yatra’, the Chief Minister was standing on a special campaign bus to greet people when the attack took place.
Vellampalli Srinivasa Rao, the Vijayawada West MLA, who was standing next to Jagan Mohan Reddy, also sustained an injury in his left eye.
Elections to the 175-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats are scheduled on May 13.
