'Are we in Andhra Pradesh or Pak?': BJP leaders detained in Andhra over protest to rename Jinnah Tower
The decision to protest at the tower was taken in a meeting of the BJP"s youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM). However, police stopped the march and detained BJP workers.
Total Views |
In a major development, the Guntur police have detained BJP leaders, including national secretary Sunil Deodhar, for taking out a protest march to Jinnah Tower demanding that it be renamed after former President APJ Abdul Kalam.
The decision to protest at the tower was taken in a meeting of the BJP's youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM). However, police stopped the march and detained BJP workers.
Deodhar shared the video of police action against the BJP leaders and said that "minority appeaser" YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government in the state showed their "real colour to suppress voices". In the clip, police personnel and some people can be seen pushing the BJP leaders into a van.
Following the development, senior BJP leader Rajya Sabha MP GVL Narasimha Rao condemned the high-handed behavior of the police and wondered "if we are in AP or Pakistan".
BJP and other organisations for the past few months have been demanding from the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government to change the name of Jinnah Tower. BJP's Andhra Pradesh unit chief Somu Veerraju said that people want the tower to be renamed.
"There was widespread support for the demand to remove Jinnah's name and the tower be renamed after Abdul Kalam. The state government cannot adopt an oppressive stance over our demand," he said.
Earlier, in February, the tower was painted in the Indian tricolor and the national flag was unfurled after a month-long showdown between the BJP and the ruling YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh.
.
.
