It was a virtual tit-for-tat experience for Telugu Desam Party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu at Tirupati international airport at Renigunta on Monday.
In January 2017, when Naidu was in power in the state, the police in Visakhapatnam airport did not allow YSR Congress party president and then opposition leader Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to come out to stage a dharna in the city demanding special category status to Andhra Pradesh.
The police said there was no permission to stage any protests in Visakhapatnam because of the Partnership Summit going on in the city.
Jagan and other YSRC leaders had to squat in the airport for a long time, before they were forced to return to Hyderabad in a separate flight.
The scene was repeated on Monday at Tirupati airport, when Naidu as not allowed to come out of the airport.
He was go to Chittoor and later to Tirupati to stage dharnas at the SP office and Gandhi statue respectively in protest against the alleged highhanded behaviour of the YSRC leaders in the municipal elections.
The TDP leaders have been alleging that their party candidates are being harassed and coerced to withdraw their nominations from the municipal elections.
Naidu is expected to raise his voice against these things to boost the morale of the party candidates.
However, the district police did not give any permission to the dharnas. They kept several TDP leaders under house arrest and when Naidu landed in Tirupati airport, the police did not allow him to come out.
They seized the mobile phones of Naidu, his personal assistants, his personal physician and others.
They requested him to go back as there is no permission for him to enter the city. They did not listen to his plea that he would submit a memorandum to the collector and the SP.
As a result, Naidu had to squat in the airport longue in protest. He is likely to be taken into custody and forcibly sent back in the return flight.