All 21 TDP legislators in Andhra Pradesh are under house arrest following Chandrababu’s detention.

In another “scam” involving the Amaravati road, the Jagan administration wants to examine Chandrababu Naidu.

As part of the statewide bandh called by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to protest the arrest of party supremo and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, workers and supporters of the TDP held protests in various locations of the YSRCP-ruled Andhra Pradesh, defying heavy police deployment and Section 144 of the CrPC, which forbids the gathering of people.

The administration and police, however, launched an extraordinary crackdown on the TDP rank and file, and as a result, a number of its leaders were placed into preventive arrest, which stopped the protests from becoming widespread. Statewide demonstrators were gathered up by the police and taken to police stations.

On Saturday morning, Naidu was taken into custody by the state CID in Nandyal in connection with the alleged multi-million dollar AP State Skill Development Corporation fraud that allegedly included his administration from 2014 to 2019. On Sunday night, a Vijayawada Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court sentenced Naidu to 14 days of judicial prison. Following the court’s directive, he was transferred to Rajahmundry Central Jail, 200 kilometers from Vijayawada.

Months before the Assembly elections and the Lok Sabha elections, the TDP chief’s detention has heightened the political climate in Andhra Pradesh. The party has dubbed it a “political vendetta” launched by the state administration, which is headed by YSRCP leader and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. Naidu and Jagan have been at odds with one another on a number of occasions lately.

The TDP issued a call for the bandh on Monday night, with its state president K Atchannaidu urging party members throughout the state to condemn Naidu’s arrest. “This arrest has political motivations and is unlawful. The bandh should be successful by the participation of those who support democracy,” he remarked.

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The party hasn’t been able to organize the protests on a wide scale, though, because the authorities have detained a lot of TDP leaders at the state and district levels under house arrest. The 21 TDP MLAs have all been placed under house arrest, and there are sizable police presences outside each of their residences to prevent them from leaving.

Rallies and processions have been outlawed by police superintendents and commissioners in the cities, who have also deployed numerous police officers throughout the state to quell protests. The largest demonstration was reported in Naidu’s hometown of Kuppam, where he has been elected repeatedly since 1989.

The TDP activists blocked highways and set fire to tires on Bandh Day, however they were later detained by police. As TDP workers attempted to stop buses from leaving, protests were held at several state transportation bus terminals. In addition to other locations, the police also made arrests in Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Tirupati, Anantapur, and Guntur. Numerous female TDP members were among those detained in a number of locations.

The Jana Sena Party (JSP)’s followers also staged protests in a number of locations. Naidu’s detention has been denounced by JSP leader K Pawan Kalyan as being “politically motivated”.

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The Jagan administration has also intensified its public relations efforts in relation to the situation, holding back-to-back press briefings to explain and support the allegations made against Naidu by its six current ministers and two ex-ministers. The ministers – including Ambati Rambabu (Water Resources), R K Roja (Tourism, Culture and Youth Advancement), Seediri Appala Raju (Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries), K Govardhan Reddy (Agriculture and Cooperation, Marketing, Food Processing), Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy (Energy, Forest, Environment, Science and Technology; Mines and Geology) and Botsa Satyanarayana (Education) – would hold media conferences through the day in this regard.

The house detention of the party leaders and the onslaught on protestors, according to senior TDP politician Yanamala Rama Krishnudu, amount to a “total failure to uphold democratic principles” in the state. IAS and IPS officers, who are expected to safeguard democratic norms, should at the very least refrain from taking part in this. It is disgusting and condemnable how a 73-year-old leader (Naidu) with a well-known name around the world is being mistreated. Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy and the YSRCP will be held accountable if anything bad occurs to Chandrababu Naidu while he is in police custody or a jail, Krishnudu stated.

“Who will invest in this state if a political party acts in this way, engages in this level of police activity, and disregards fundamental democratic norms as we are witnessing? This condition is being brought about by Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is denying the state of any investments, which will affect youth who will have no employment opportunities, he stated.