The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has urged the Chief Election Commissioner to promptly transfer the top three police officers of Andhra Pradesh due to their alleged failure in safeguarding Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, who sustained minor injuries to his left eyebrow in a recent stone-pelting incident during an election campaign in Vijayawada.
Former TDP Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar, in a letter addressed to the CEC, strongly condemned the attack on the CM and voiced concern over the police department's inability to provide adequate protection to him, particularly in Vijayawada where senior police officials are stationed.
Jagan's Party Might Shift Blame Onto Opposition Leader For Attack: Former TDP Rajya Sabha MP
Kumar expressed apprehension that the YSRCP, Jagan's party, might shift blame onto the opposition leader for the attack and raised concerns that the police could fabricate cases against TDP workers to conceal their shortcomings. "If the police cannot provide protection to the CM and make proper arrangements for the PM's programme, we cannot expect that they would ensure law and order and allow free and fair elections in the state on May 13," he said.
He urged the EC to transfer Director General of Police (DGP) K V Rajendranath, DGP Intelligence PSR Anjaneyulu, and Commissioner of Police Vijayawada Kanti Rana Tata without delay.
Kumar claimed that the state police force had "lost its professionalism and impartial conduct" and referenced previous attacks on a number of TDP leaders, including the attack on the TDP party office in Mangalagiri and the pelting of stones at the Chittoor district headquarters of N Chandrababu Nadu.