Hyderabad: In the aftermath of the alleged stone throwing incident in which Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy sustained an injury just above his left eyebrow, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has taken a serious view of the matter and sought a report on Saturday, April 13.
The ECI has directed Mukesh Kumar Meena, Andhra Pradesh chief electoral officer (CEO) to send a detailed report on the incident, and the persons responsible for the attack. Further, Meena has asked Vijayawada police commissioner Kanthi Rana Tata to inquire and submit the details. Tata has assured that a preliminary report will be prepared by Sunday.
The alleged incident took place when an unidentified person threw a stone during the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress party’s (YSR Congress party’s) election campaign in Vijayawada on Saturday night.
Jagan was standing on the rooftop of his bus and greeting milling crowds around the vehicle with his trademark folded hands raised upwards when a stone hit him from a building nearby. Though he took evasive action, the object hit him on the forehead, tearing the skin in ‘Y’ shape even as he held on to his eye tightly writhing in pain. He was immediately escorted inside the bus by security personnel.
The attack took place when the bus was moving at a snail’s pace as the crowd was bursting at its seams in Singhnagar area of Vijayawada (Central) Assembly constituency at 8.10 pm. Suddenly, what appeared to be a stone was hurled at Jagan from a second floor window of an adjacent private school. The stone also landed on V. Srinivas Rao, YSR Congress candidate of the constituency, after hitting Jagan.
Director General of Police K.V. Rajendranath Reddy told this reporter that there were no leads so far in the investigation though some special teams were screening images of CCTV network in the area. He expressed hope of arresting the culprit shortly.
The incident triggered political waves as Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Jagan a speedy recovery. Similarly, Tamil Nadu chief minister M. K. Stalin said political differences should never escalate to violence. “Let’s uphold civility and mutual respect as we engage in the democratic process,” he observed.
Jagan’s sister and Andhra Pradesh Congress committee president Y. S. Sharmila felt the incident may have been an accident but everyone must condemn if it was a deliberate attempt. “It is sad and unfortunate that chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy was attacked and injured above his left eye during the election campaign today. We think it was an accident. Otherwise, if it was done on purpose, everyone should definitely condemn it. Democracy has no place for violence. Every democrat must condemn violence. I am praying to God for Jagan’s speedy recovery,” Sharmila wrote on X.
The YSR Congress party chief’s arch rival and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu condemned the incident and demanded unbiased investigation. He also urged the ECI to punish officials responsible, if they were found to be negligent.
The YSR Congress, however, pointed fingers at the provocative speeches of Naidu during the campaign trail for the attack.
YSR Congress general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy told media persons during a press conference on Sunday that the TDP supremo had become desperate and indulged in provocative speeches as the bus yatra evoked huge response. He added that Naidu expected the popularity of yatra to diminish after crossing Rayalaseema where it was launched last month. “But, the road shows in the yatra became a super hit, more than in 2019 polls.”
To prove his point, the YSR Congress leader even played the video of a public meeting addressed by Naidu where the latter gave a call to people to attack Jagan with stones or other missiles until the “bull”, as he called the Andhra Pradesh chief minister, was defeated in elections. “Jagan will be reduced to ashes if you (public) turn eyes red in anger,” Naidu had said in the video.
Ramakrishna Reddy underlined that people who were adversely affected by the yatra or their associates were behind the attack. “They (opponents of YSR Congress Party) belonged to a school of thought that believed in violence. The group was led by Telugu Desam and comprised its allies Jana Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Naidu had resigned to his fate that he will not only get a second term as chief minister but he will be out of political reckoning permanently. The tone and tenor of Naidu’s speeches were inherent with provocation as the yatra progressed.”
The attack has raised several doubts in the minds of the public as it took place when there was a blackout caused by power shutdown. Subsequently, Vijayawada police commissioner Tata has clarified that the power was deliberately removed to avoid Jagan’s bus coming into contact with overhead wires.
Further, questions were also raised on the security arrangements as hundreds of personnel who were deployed failed to avert the attack. It was considered a serious breach as multi-level steps were followed to ensure the chief minister’s security involving the Intelligence Security Wing, Chief Minister’s Security Group and local police, among others. Moreover, the incident took place merely two kms from the local police station.
Interestingly, doubts were also raised that what hit Jagan might not have been a stone but a pellet fired from an air gun in the hands of assailants.
Political activists across parties argued that it was a general practice to ensure there was no power cut or interruption during a chief minister’s public appearances in evenings. There were not even flood lights sourcing energy from generators to focus on public which could have averted the incident while the flood lights on the bus were directed at Jagan making him an easy target.
Jagan was given first aid in the bus and allowed to carry on the yatra after some time. When the bus reached Kesarapalli camp in Krishna district for night halt at 10.30 pm, Jagan was joined by his wife Y.S. Bharathi. Both of them went to Vijayawada government general hospital where he had two stitches on the injury with local anaesthesia. The hospital superintendent assured that the injury was not serious and that Jagan will recover in two or three days though he had a swelling over the eye.
The yatra was suspended for a day on Sunday.
