Andhra Pradesh police on Monday detained Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Somu Veerraju, general secretary Vishnu Vardhan Reddy and national secretary, Y Satya Kumar after a scuffle broke out during the party’s protest over the state government’s decision not to allow idol immersion during this year’s Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Kurnool, the police said.
The BJP held protests on Monday in all 13 districts of Andhra Pradesh demanding that the festival should be held. Party functionaries said that party leaders held demonstrations across the state demanding the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), led by chief minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, to allow public pandals for Ganesh idols this year to observe the festival.
While the police detained leaders in some places like Kurnool, protests in other parts of the state were more or less peaceful, with some BJP leaders even giving representations to local authorities over the issue. In Kurnool, the police blocked the movement of BJP demonstrators, resulting in a scuffle between them.
“The government is asking the public not to do Puja in public places and has asked them to do it in their homes citing Covid-19. The entire Ganesh immersion was created by Bal Gangadhar Tilak to build a community. The government is trying to curb it among Hindus and is slowly driving us towards western traditions,” alleged Sudheesh Rambhotla, BJP’s chief spokesperson in Andhra.
Rambhotla said the ruling YSRCP held a massive gathering to observe the death anniversary of former chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, late Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, on September 2. “Jagan (who is Christian by faith) is trying to convert people into Christianity, and his target is 50,000 per Assembly constituency,” he alleged. Jagan and YSR Congress party has refuted such claims in the past.
{{/usCountry}}Rambhotla said the ruling YSRCP held a massive gathering to observe the death anniversary of former chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, late Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, on September 2. “Jagan (who is Christian by faith) is trying to convert people into Christianity, and his target is 50,000 per Assembly constituency,” he alleged. Jagan and YSR Congress party has refuted such claims in the past.
{{/usCountry}}Vinayak (or Ganesh) Chaturthi, which falls on September 10, is widely observed in Hyderabad (capital of Telangana), wherein people gather in large numbers to immerse idols in lakes or other water bodies. While not as widespread in Andhra, it is observed similarly by a section of people every year. In 2020, too, the festivities got hampered due to the Covid pandemic.
On Monday, the state reported 739 new cases, taking Andhra’s total tally to 2,022,064. Over the last fortnight, cases of Covid-19 in the state have been around 1,000 marks per day on average.
When contacted, a senior police official who did not want to be quoted said that BJP leaders were released after being detained for some time and that no untoward incident took place during the protests.