Andhra Pradesh Congress chief YS Sharmila Reddy spent the night in her party office in Vijayawada on Wednesday, aiming to evade house arrest ahead of the 'Chalo Secretariat' protest scheduled for Thursday by Congress cadre under her leadership.
Demanding government attention to issues faced by unemployed youth and students, Congress cadre has called for the 'Chalo Secretariat' protest.
According to ANI, YS Sharmila at Andhra Ratna Bhavan in Vijayawada earlier, said that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had utterly failed in addressing important issues of youth, unemployed, and students in the last five years.
In a post on X, she wrote, "If we call for protest on behalf of the unemployed, will you try to keep us under house arrest? Don't we have the right to protest in a democracy? Is it not shameful that as a woman I have been forced to evade the police and spend the night in the Congress Party office to avoid house arrest?"
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Lashing out at the state government, she questioned, "Are we terrorists... or anti-social forces? They are trying to stop us... It means they (the government) are afraid of us. They are trying to hide their incompetence, the real truth. Even if they try to stop us, stop our workers, our struggle on behalf of the unemployed will not stop."
In a post on Thursday, Sharmila stated, "Thousands of policemen were placed around us. Iron fences have been put up and we have been held hostage. If we stand on the side of the unemployed, they are arresting us. You are dictators who are trying to stop us. Your actions are proof of this. YCP Sarkar should apologize to the unemployed."
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Congress' in charge of Andhra Pradesh and Lok Sabha MP Manickam Tagore criticized the state government, posting on X, "Standing up against Jagan's arrogance and standing for democracy, Joining YS Sharmila and countless others in condemning the unjust behavior of Jagan's police for the suppression of democratic rights against advocates for the unemployed. It's time to uphold the fundamental principles of democracy and respect the right to peaceful protest."
A massive police presence was observed at the Andhra Pradesh Congress committee Headquarters in Vijayawada as authorities aimed to maintain law and order following the Congress' call to march to the Secretariat.
