Former Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) national President N. Chandrababu Naidu was denied permission from entering the city and detained at the Renigunta airport here on March 1 as he arrived.
Mr. Naidu was scheduled to attend two protest dharnas, one at Gandhi statue in Tirupati and the other at Gandhi Circle in Chittoor city, against the ruling party’s alleged high-handed attitude in cracking down on Opposition party leaders.
The Tirupati dharna was to show resentment over the manner in which the ruling YSR Congress government had allegedly misused its official machinery to pull down a tea kiosk belonging to a TDP worker situated in front of a leading cinema theatre, dubbing it an ‘encroachment’.
Squatting in the airport lobby, Mr. Naidu flayed the officials of acting at the behest of the ruling party and sought to know if it was appropriate for an Opposition leader who had served as the Chief Minister for three terms to be treated this way by the police department. He refused to leave the spot and insisted on meeting the Collector and Superintendent of Police.
Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police (Tirupati Urban) Ch. Venkata Appala Naidu told the media that the department had declined permission for the dharna, citing the model code of conduct in place for the elections and the likelihood of a second wave of COVID-19 in Tirupati.
The application for organising the dharna, submitted online late on February 28 night, had to be rejected in view of the above reasons. The party leaders also did not give sufficient time to the department to act. The SP said, permission to stage dharna at Gandhi statue close to APSRTC bus station would also cause inconvenience to pilgrims visiting Tirupati and cause inconvenience for the movement of ambulances.
Earlier, TDP Tirupati parliamentary constituency in-charge G. Narasimha Yadav was arrested when he arrived at the airport to receive Mr. Naidu, while Tirupati former MLA M. Sugunamma was placed under house arrest. Several leaders were detained and brought to the Tirupati East police station to "bring the situation under control".