The Andhra Pradesh police on Monday booked a case against senior YSR Congress party leader and former Minister Jogi Ramesh for his alleged abusive comments against chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his son, state information technology minister Nara Lokesh, people familiar with the matter said.
Based on a complaint by ruling Telugu Desam Party, The Ibrahimpatnam police in NTR district registered cases under various sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita including section 196 (provoking enmity between groups) and section 352 (intentional insult to disturb peace) etc.
The development comes a day after several TDP activists attacked Jogi Ramesh’s house at Ibrahimpatnam, ransacking the premises and setting fire to the furniture, in protest against his comments against Naidu and Lokesh.
The police registered an FIR against 11 TDP leaders and their associates at Ibrahimpatnam police station under sections 189(2), 190, 292 and 324(4) of BNS.
The TDP workers barged into Ramesh’s house, removed banners and vandalised the premises. The YSRCP leader was not present in the house at the time of the attack and returned only in the night.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Ramesh alleged that the attack was spearheaded by Vijayawada MP Kesineni Chinni under the directions of Lokesh. “The TDP cadres, acting with police presence and support, attacked my house with petrol bombs as part of a conspiracy to physically eliminate me and my family,” he said.
On Saturday night, a similar attack took place, allegedly by the TDP activists on the house of another former minister and senior YSRCP leader Ambati Rambabu in Guntur, in protest of alleged derogatory remarks made by Rambabu against the chief minister. In this incident, too, the attackers damaged the residence and office of Rambabu, vandalised vehicles, and set the house on fire.
Hours before the attack, Rambabu was arrested by the police for allegedly hurling filthy abuses at Naidu during a protest on the controversial Tirumala ghee adulteration issue. The Guntur police produced Rambabu before a magistrate on Sunday night, and he was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. He was subsequently shifted to Rajahmundry Central Jail.
The attacks on former ministers have flared political tension. Alleging total breakdown of law and order, YSRCP has demanded imposition of President’s Rule.
YSRCP president and former chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy said the TDP leadership is under the illusion that by setting fire to the houses of Ambati Rambabu and Jogi Ramesh, it could instil fear in the YSRCP cadres.
“It is a symbol of anarchy, barbaric rule, and jungle raj. But the heat generated by the flames you ignited against democracy, Chandrababu Naidu, will inevitably burn down your government. In the coming days, the towering flames of public anger against you will completely incinerate your government, reducing it to ashes,” he added.
The chief minister hit back at the YSRCP and said their frustration was due to the inability to accept the government’s success in putting the crisis-ridden state back on track.
He stated in a post on X that the government would safeguard law and order no matter what attempts were made to disturb peace, and that criminal politics has been YSRCP’s ideology, which was evident from the “illegal governance” witnessed in 2019-24.
He alleged that the criminalisation of politics has been the core culture of the YSRCP, and lawlessness was a hallmark of its tenure. He said maintaining law and order is paramount, and that no violation will be tolerated under any circumstances, irrespective of political affiliation.
The chief minister urged TDP workers to exercise restraint and not fall into what he described as YSRCP’s “trap.” He stressed that those who commit wrongdoing would be punished strictly under the law, but warned that party workers should not take law into their own hands.
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