Andhra stempede 'Heinous, shameful': Jagan Mohan Reddy tears into Chandrababu Naidu over 8 deaths during latter's roadshow
Narsipatnam/IBNS: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy Friday blamed Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu over the death of eight people at a roadshow organised by his party at Kandukur in Nellore district of the state on Wednesday.
He alleged that Chandrababu Naidu's "publicity mania" caused the tragedy, and demanded an immediate and public apology from him.
Earlier in the day, Chandrababu Naidu expressed grief over the death of his party workers.
"This is a sad incident. I'm feeling very sorry about it," he said.
TDP has also announced that it will pay Rs. 24 lahks each to the families of the eight who died in the stampede.
However, Jagan Reddy remained unconvinced and slammed Naidu over the incident.
"Babu killed eight people for his political benefits, it is so heinous and shameful. For the sake of a photo shoot, for a drone shot, even though there were few people, they pushed people into a narrow lane in order to show big numbers. They used their vehicle like a barricade and killed eight people... will there be anything worse than this?'' Reddy said at a public meeting in Narsipatnam.
The CM said that Naidu, who is also a former Chief Minister of the state, has done this before as well.
"During Godavari Pushkaralu in 2015, he became the reason for the death of 29 people. This is not new for him. He only cares about his publicity," Jagan Reddy said.
The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister then criticised him for "deception" and "stabbing people in the back".
He also slammed Naidu for taking out another roadshow in Kavali town "without any repentance", just a day after the mishap.
"Instead of taking moral responsibility for the death of 8 innocents, the TDP chief instead pinned the blame on the public," Reddy said, adding that Chandrababu Naidu "lectured people to be 'self-disciplined while visiting public rallies".
"Politics is not shooting dialogues or drone shots or drama. Politics means what change we are able to bring in the families of farmers and socially marginalised groups," he said.
"To transform governance, to transform our healthcare system, and reach the people, is politics," he added.
The police have registered a case in connection to the stampede incident, saying the public meeting had created a lot of 'deviations', which obstructed the police and led to such an incident.
This comes after eight people including one woman died in a near-stampede situation in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, during a roadshow by the state's former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday.
Naidu, who is now the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, was scheduled to address a meeting a Kandukur town as a part of his "Idemi Kharma Mana Rashtraniki (Why is our state facing this fate?)" campaign.
The rush started as Naidu's convoy was about to reach the area in the evening.
The huge crowd, which had gathered, pressed forward for a glimpse of the leader.
According to local authorities, in the rush, many fell into an open drainage canal that passed alongside and eight people died.
Some also received injuries and were treated in the hospital.
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