Naidu's Amravathi tour turns violent, protestors hurl slippers, stones, block roads

As TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu embarked on a tour of the upcoming Andhra capital, Amaravathi region on Thursday, his entourage was met with protests primarily from farmers' groups, with a protestor even hurling a slipper at Naidu. 

Along with his party leaders, former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had planned a 'Çhalo Amaravathi’ tour to meet the farmers who had donated their land for the capital region and pay a visit to the sites of projects he had initiated as CM. But the 20-vehicle convoy was met with their first impediment after a group of farmers blocked their way 15 kilometres from Vijayawada, at Venkatapalem. 

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Stones pelted at Naidu's bus

As Naidu was en route to Uddhandarayunipalem, amidst slogans in favour of the TDP chief, the mood suddenly turned acrimonious with protestors not allowing the entourage including the private bus Naidu was travelling in to proceed further. Even as security personnel tried to disperse the crowd, stones were pelted, even cracking the window panes on the bus Naidu was in. 

TDP already has pointed fingers at the ruling YSRCP, alleging that the farmers were promted by Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy to disrupt Naidu's tour, an allegation the YSRCP has promptly and vehemently denied. While YSRCP had planned protests along the route of Naidu’s tour, holding him responsible for the alleged mess the capital region is in, they maintain that the farmers who turned violent were anguished with ‘rampant corruption of Naidu regime’ and were self-motivated. 

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Ever since YSRCP took over the helm of affairs in Andhra Pradesh, winning a colossal 151 out of 175 seats, the fate of the capital region has been in question. As several projects were halted and a few others terminated, the ruling party blamed the alleged rampant corruption in Naidu administration for the chaos. But Naidu has accused CM Jagan Reddy of practising vendetta politics and scuttling his dream project of Amaravathi and in turn insulting and hurting crores of citizens. 

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Just days ago, after the Central government incorporated Amaravathi as the capital of Andhra Pradesh in the political map of India, CM Jagan Reddy reportedly instructed officials to expedite developmental projects in the capital region. Pending report from an experts’ panel, all works had been halted after the new government passed an order to reevaluate and investigate all administrative and financial decisions by the previous government.

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