TDP president and former CM N Chandrababu Naidu was the man behind the burning of a chariot on the premises of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Antarvedi in East Godavari district on Sunday last.
This was the allegation made by YSR Congress party general secretary and parliamentary party leader V Vijay Sai Reddy on Friday, hours after the Jagan Mohan Reddy government ordered a CBI inquiry into the incident.
Hitherto, the investigating officers of the state police had been suspecting that the chariot might have caught fire when some miscreants tried to set ablaze the beehive atop the chariot, which was covered by dry palm leaves.
But now with the government ordering a CBI inquiry under pressure from the Hindu groups and opposition parties, particularly the Bharatiya Janata Party, the YSRC leaders are suspecting that it might be the handiwork of the TDP leaders to destabilise the YSRC government.
“We strongly believe that there was a clear case of conspiracy in the chariot burning by Chandrababu Naidu and his cronies to create law and order issues in the state. He is sitting in Hyderabad and instigating violence in Andhra Pradesh,” Sai Reddy said.
He said that the CBI inquiry would definitely bring out the conspiracy hatched by Naidu and his son Lokesh to create troubles in Antarvedi and damage the peaceful atmosphere in the state.
The YSRC MP pointed out that the preliminary investigations by the police revealed that some people from Guntur and Hyderabad were involved in the burning of chariot in Antarvedi.
“The CBI inquiry will bring out all the facts and the conspiracy behind the incident,” he said.
State home minister Mekathoti Sucharita also suspected that there was a conspiracy behind the Antarvedi incident, while tourism minister Avanti Srinivasa also accused Naidu of masterminding the chariot burning to damage the reputation of the Jagan government.