Amit Shah’s convoy comes under attack by TDP men in Tirupati

Tirupati :  BJP President Amit Shah’s convoy came under stone pelting at Alipiri here when he was returning after worship at the Balaji temple.

Protesting the ‘injustice’ meted out to Andhra Pradesh by the Centre over special category status, workers of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) tried to block the convoy.

Carrying black flags, they squatted on the road and raised slogans of “Amit Shah go back” and “We want justice”.

Police tried to control the protestors, some of whom pelted stones, damaging window panes of one of the cars in the convoy. A few local leaders of the BJP got off the cars and thrashed the protestors.

Amit Shah, who along with family members arrived here on Thursday evening, offered prayers at the temple on Friday morning. They were returning to the airport when the incident occurred.

Police said while there was no damage to the vehicles of BJP chief and his family members, cars of some BJP leaders came under attack.

The police whisked away the protestors. One of them alleged that Modi had betrayed the five crore people of Andhra Pradesh by not fulfilling the promise made in this temple town in the presence of Lord Venkateswara during the 2014 election campaign.

Chief Minister and TDP President N. Chandrababu Naidu condemned the attack on Shah’s convoy. Stating that TDP was a disciplined party, he warned those violating the discipline. Naidu said he was against violence or any physical attack on anybody.

On April 30, Chandrababu Naidu had addressed a public meeting in this temple town. At this meeting, the TDP chief played the videos of Modi’s speech he delivered in Tirupati on the same day in 2014. Modi, in his speech, had promised to fulfill the commitments.

Published on: May 11, 2018 at 16:57 IST

IANS