Government suspends village secretary over Andhra Pradesh flag row

Two days after the YSR Congress coloured the Indian flag on the wall of a government building with the colour of the party's flag, a village secretary from the Anantapuram district was suspended on Thursday. Anantapuram District Collector, S Satyanarayana ordered the suspension of R Prakash, secretary of Tammadipalli village on Thursday. In a press statement, the collector said that the village secretary was responsible for colouring over National Flag painted on the building.  

The district collector also informed that the building has been whitewashed. 

"Tricolour will be unfurled in that office on November 1 as part of state formation day celebrations," the collector said, as quoted by a news agency. 

Criticism from the opposition parties

This move by the village secretary attracted a lot of criticism from the opposition parties. Leader of Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, N Chandrababu Naidu and his son took to Twitter to criticise this act. Posting a before and after picture of the building, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu tweeted:  

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Critical of the YSRCP government's actions, Chandrababu Naidu's son and TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh sarcastically asked if they would change the national anthem too.  

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Dinakar Lanka's reaction on changing the colours of the flag  

Lamenting the incident, Senior BJP leader Dinakar Lanka said, "The YSRCP government is spending huge amounts for painting their party colour on public structures. This dynasty natured regional party does not respect the National Flag and national interest. Why are the YSRCP flag colours on panchayath, school buildings, graveyards and other government structures across the state and why are government funds used for the party's propaganda?" 

(With ANI Inputs)

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Read: YSRCP faces ire for painting party colours over Indian Tricolour