YSRCP slams the AP Police for 'brutal' treatment of student leaders protesting fee reimbursement dues, alleging illegal detentions. The party also accused the state government of withholding MGNREGA payments and deleting lakhs of job cards.
The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) sharply criticised the Andhra Pradesh Police for what it termed "brutal and undemocratic" treatment of student leaders who were holding peaceful demonstrations over long-pending fee reimbursement dues on Tuesday.
A Ravichandra, Working President of the party's Student Wing, alleged that police personnel manhandled student activists who had gathered to submit a representation on issues arising from fee arrears. "Instead of hearing them out, the police resorted to high-handedness and filed illegal cases," he said.
According to the YSRCP, students were forcibly detained, pushed into police vehicles, and transported between multiple locations, including Duggirala, Tadepalli, and a police battalion facility, before being taken to the Mangalagiri Police Station late at night.
The party said State Student Wing President Panuganti Chaitanya was jailed "for merely exercising his democratic rights". Ravichandra questioned whether demanding fee reimbursement had become a crime. He stated that several colleges were issuing notices to students over non-payment of fees, while the government had yet to clear what he claimed were arrears amounting to Rs 7,800 crore.
Accusing the state administration of fostering a "climate of fear and coercion", the YSRCP leader asserted that suppressing student concerns would only intensify public anger. "A government that relies on force instead of dialogue reflects a collapse of constitutional governance. The more they suppress, the stronger the students' resistance will grow," he said.
YSRCP Alleges Sabotage of MGNREGA Scheme
Earlier on Monday, the YSR Congress Party launched a fierce attack on the Andhra Pradesh coalition government on Monday, alleging that it has "brutally sabotaged the livelihoods of the poor" by withholding MGNREGA payments and arbitrarily deleting lakhs of job cards across the state.
Addressing the media at the party's central office in Tadepalli on Monday, YSRCP Panchayat Raj Wing State President Vennapusa Ravindra Reddy said the government has withheld Rs 381 crore in wages since July 27, leaving lakhs of rural labourers without income for nearly six months. "This is not administrative negligence; it is a direct assault on the poorest of the poor," he alleged.
Reddy claimed that 18.63 lakh job cards belonging to 7.48 lakh families were removed "without notice, without verification, and purely on political considerations." He accused the Chandrababu Naidu-Pawan Kalyan government of "retaining job cards only for those affiliated with the TDP" and using the scheme as a tool of intimidation ahead of local body elections. (ANI)
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