Andhra: TDP leaders placed under house arrest to foil ‘Chalo Macherla’

Amaravati, May 23: Police placed leaders of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) under house arrest on Thursday to foil their ‘Chalo Macherla’ programme to protest against YSR Congress Party resorting to violence during polling and subsequent days.

The TDP has given a call for ‘Chalo Macherla’ to meet victims of the alleged violence by Macherla sitting MLA Pinneli Ramakrishna Reddy of YSRCP. However, police denied the permission for the protest and placed TDP leaders under house arrest.

Palnadu district Superintendent of Police Mallika Garg announced that there is no permission for the ‘Chalo Macherla’ programme. Police personnel reached the houses of some key TDP leaders in the morning to prevent them from leaving for Macherla.

TDP leaders Nakka Anand Babu and K. Srinivasa Rao were placed under house arrest in Guntur.

Former minister Devineni Uma was stopped from leaving his house in Gollapudi. Similarly, TDP politburo member Varla Ramaiah was kept under house arrest in Vijayawada.

TDP candidate from Macherla Assembly constituency, Julakanti Brahmananda Reddy remains under house arrest since the polling on May 13.

The constituency witnessed several incidents of poll-related violence. On the polling day, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were damaged at seven places.

YSRCP’s Ramakrishna Reddy, who is seeking re-election for a fifth consecutive term, damaged EVM in one of the polling booths. After the video of the incident went viral on Tuesday, police booked a case and launched a hunt for him as the Election Commission of India ordered his immediate arrest.