‘Rowdies & Blade Batch Among Amaravati Farmers’

Rajahmundry YCP MP Margani Bharat Ram alleged that those participating in the Amaravati to Arasavalli padayatra were rowdy sheeters and blade batch culprits. The padayatra by the capital region farmers entered Rajahmundry through Mallayyapeta after crossing the Gaman bridge as the routine road-cum-rail bridge was closed down a couple of days ago in the name of renovation.

The MP said that the YCP cadre had been peacefully leading a protest against the Amaravati sole capital demand when the participants of the Amaravati-Arasavalli yatra hurled water bottles filled with muddy water, footwear, stones and water packets. “It is a pre-planned attack. They carried big stones, bottles and if you can search their pockets, you will also find blades and even knives,” he alleged.

Bharat Ram demanded that the culprits should be booked and TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu should apologise to the citizens of Rajahmundry unconditionally for having disturbed the law and order in the city. He said that the attack on them was done as per the directions of Chandrababu Naidu.

He also alleged that Rajahmundry MLA’s (Adireddy Bhavani) husband and father-in-law abet crimes by rowdy-sheeters and blade batch robbers. He demanded that the police scan the CCTV footage and arrest the culprits who attacked the YCP activists.

Meanwhile, the YCP activists raised ‘Amaravati farmers Go Back’ slogans resenting the violence that erupted after their entry into the city. A few others alleged that it was realtors based in Amaravati and surrounding areas sponsoring the padayatra. “This is a conspiracy by Naidu against Jagan as his reputation is increasing in the wake of the numerous welfare schemes he is implementing. The
3-capital formula proposed by Jagan aims at uniform development and the realtors are worried that the prices of their land would drop if the CM goes ahead with his plan,” said another woman activist of the YCP.

There is talk that the violence in the padayatra could be in retaliation to the attack on the ministers’ convoys in Vizag. The YCP men themselves could have thrown some stones and footwear to create some tense atmosphere for which they are blaming us, said a TDP activist.

Moreover, the closure of the road-cum-rail bridge right before the padayatra was about to reach Rajahmundry also raises doubts about the YCP’s fear that the farmers’ demand is gaining strength, the TDP men said.

In fact, the violence and chaos were pre-planned by the YCP men. The YCP leaders wanted to create some ruckus in Rajahmundry and they had planned it accordingly by initiating the drama with the closure of the road-cum-rail bridge, they added.