Plot to endanger YS Jagan on poll day

Tadepalli, Nov 2: YSRCP spokesperson Karumuri Venkata Reddy said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Minister Nara Lokesh orchestrated a dangerous conspiracy to prevent former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy from reaching Pulivendula on polling day and placing his safety at risk.

Addressing the media at the YSRCP central office, he said Kadapa Collector Cherukuri Sridhar had granted permission for Jagan’s helicopter landing on October 25, while the revised arrival and departure schedule was communicated on October 31. Despite this, calls were made from the CMO after the helicopter departed Bengaluru, pressuring officials to turn it back. The Collector and district police then falsely claimed that they had received no prior information. The pilots warned that the helicopter lacked sufficient fuel to return and that they might have to declare a Mayday emergency.

Karumuri questioned why the fire engine stationed at the landing site was removed within 15 to 20 minutes of Jagan’s arrival instead of remaining until his return journey. He also demanded to know who pressured the DSP to intimidate the pilots and obtain statements from them, and why TDP social-media channels circulated claims that Jagan’s helicopter was being seized.

He further questioned Dastagiri, an accused in the Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy murder case, entered the route of Jagan’s Z-Plus security convoy on polling day. Dastagiri had met Chandrababu Naidu at the TDP office just 20 days earlier. DIG Koya Praveen’s statement that Dastagiri had only come to speak with Jagan raised deeper suspicions, he said.

Karumuri demanded a comprehensive inquiry into the roles of Chandrababu, Lokesh, the Collector, SP and DIG, declaring that every political leader, official and police officer involved would be held accountable.