The Guntur police on Monday arrested NRI Vuyyuru Srinivas Chowdhary holding him responsible for the death of three women in the stampede on Sunday evening.
Srinivas orgnaised Chandranna Kanuka programme to distribute sarees and grocery to the women, which was inaugurated by TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu.
After Naidu left the venue, there was a stampede killing three women and injuring more than a dozen women.
The police registered a case on Sunday and arrested the NRI on Monday after the preliminary enquiry.
Srinivas is former minister Alapati Raja’s relative and lives in Virginia in the US.
Though he is a US citizen, Srinivas is planning to contest from the Guntur West Assembly constituency on the TDP ticket in the 2024 general election.
He campaigned extensively in Guntur inviting women to attend the meeting and take sarees from Chandrababu Naidu.
A large number of women reached the venue when Naidu opened the camp.
After Naidu left the venue, Srinivas closed the counters and announced that he would visit every house in Guntur West Assembly constituency and hand over the sarees and grocery to them.
Angered at this statement, the women rushed towards the counters triggering the stampede.
Quite interestingly, Naidu is mobilising the NRIs to come with money and spend for the TDP till the next elections, which are 15 months away.
Several NRIs, most of them are the same caste leaders of Naidu, have come to the state with eyes on getting the party ticket for the next election.
What these NRIs should know is that once the election schedule is announced, Naidu would give tickets only to a few of them as he is known for use and throw policy.
In the next 15 months, these NRIs would spend their hard earned money and go back to their respective places empty hand!