Vijayawada, May 17 : Telugu Desam Party National President and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Today described the Supreme Court’s order to shift the YSRCP rebel MP to Army hospital as a slap in the face for Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The TDP chief alleged that the arrested YSRCP rebel MP K Raghurama Krishna Raju was beaten up while in the CID custody. His legs were swollen with injuries. The courts ordered for sending him to a private hospital for medical tests were violated. CID Additional DGP himself went to the GGH where the superintendent was the wife of a YCP Legal Cell leader. ‘Custodial deaths’ also took place in the past.

Mr. Naidu said the injured MP had now to be shifted to the Army Hospital in Hyderabad because of the Supreme Court orders.

“It is a slap in the face of the AP Government. All the cases filed against Mr.Raju were false. If his speeches were hateful, then the YSRCP leaders’ statements were filled with more hatred. The Pollution Control Board was used to close down industries out of vendetta”, he lashed out.

Mr. Naidu said that in his 43 years of active political career, he has seen many Chief Ministers and served as the Opposition Leader but he never knew the ‘sedition’ charges would be used against political opponents. For the first time, the AP Government used this as a weapon to strike fear in the political opponents. Cases were being filed against the opponents without even giving prior notice.

The TDP chief addressed an online meeting of the all party leaders organised by the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Association (APCLA) here on the ‘Democracy and freedom of expression’. He said that heated debates and mutual allegations were common in a vibrant democracy. But in AP now, the situation became different as all the dissenting voices were being suppressed and crushed ruthlessly.

The Jagan Reddy regime was terrifying the media with its draconian GO 2430. They went to an extreme by filing sedition cases against TV5 and ABN channels. Mr. Naidu said that Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy made provocative statements when he was the opposition leader during the previous TDP regime.

“At that time, Jagan Reddy gave a call to shoot me down, hit me with chappals and sweepers. He also called for throwing me into the Bay of Bengal and also for hanging me. Jagan also talked a lot about pulling down the TDP Government. But no sedition cases were filed against Jagan Reddy”, Mr.Naidu claimed.(UNI)