Bharatiya Janata Party in Andhra Pradesh, which had gone muted after May 2, when the results for the by-elections to Tirupati parliamentary seat were declared and the party suffered a humiliating defeat, has started raising its voice again.
While BJP state president Somu Veerraju is still keeping silent, other leaders including BJP state vice president P Vishnu Kumar Raju and former president Kanna Laxminarayana have begun attacking the Jagan Mohan Reddy government for its alleged failure to control the Coronavirus pandemic.
The party took up a protest programme at its Visakhapatnam office on Sunday, where several party workers and leaders participated.
Speaking on the occasion, Vishnu Kumar Raju alleged that instead of focussing on tackling the Coronavirus pandemic, the chief minister was concentrating on witch-hunting his political adversaries.
Vishnu wondered whether the CID police who booked rebel YSR Congress MP K Raghurama Krishnam Raju in a sedition case, cops who had beaten him up in the custody and the doctors of Guntur General Hospital who gave a false medical report, would be given promotions soon.
“It appears Jagan loves all those who abuse Raghurama Raju. It was evident from the way he openly appreciated Jogi Ramesh who foul-mouthed Raju in the assembly. I am sure Jogi will get the cabinet berth in the next expansion,” the BJP leader said.
Similarly, he predicted that the cops who manhandled Raju in the custody would also get promotion. That is the style of Jagan, he said.
While making it clear that he was not supporting the rebel MP’s comments against a particular community, Vishnu said it did not mean the government would resort to physical assault on the MP.
“We demand a CBI inquiry into the highhanded behaviour of the police. Had Raju not got the bail from Supreme Court, Raju would have been killed in custody,”” he said.
Meanwhile, Kanna Lakshminarayana demanded that Jagan should stop his acts of vengeance against rivals and focus on administration. He opposed Jagan’s letter to PM seeking to stop supply of vaccination to the private hospitals.