Amit Shah''s convoy comes under attack by TDP men in Tirupati

Suresh Dharur
Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, May 11

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Bharatiya Janata Party’s national president Amit Shah faced the wrath of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) workers near Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh on Friday when they tried to block his convoy to protest against denial of special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

Angry activists of the ruling party pelted stones at the convoy, breaking the windshield of one of the cars in his convoy, and clashed with the BJP workers near the temple town.

Shah went to the popular hill shrine, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, in Chittoor district after rounding off election campaigning in Karnataka. As he was coming out of the temple, a section of devotees in a queue shouted slogans against the BJP and demanded special category status for Andhra Pradesh.

As the BJP chief was on his way to Tirupati town, at the foothill of the Tirumala hills, the black badge-wearing TDP workers blocked his convoy at the Alipiri check-post. The workers squatted on the road and shouted slogans saying “Amit Shah Go Back”, “We want justice”, and “Give us special category status”.

The BJP workers following Shah’s convoy resisted the TDP workers, resulting in clashes. A TDP worker threw stones at Shah’s convoy and broke the windshield of one of the vehicles.

Security personnel accompanying the convoy and police officials at the check-post dispersed the TDP workers.

On learning about the incident, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, also president of the TDP, condemned the incident and warned the party workers that such acts of indiscipline would not to be tolerated.
Naidu’s party had walked out of the BJP-led NDA in March last over denial of special category status to the state.