Andhra Pradesh govt bans rallies, public meetings on roads

The Andhra Pradesh government has banned organising rallies and public meetings on roads and highways

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh government has banned organising rallies and public meetings on roads and highways, and also on road margins and street corners.

However, the district superintendents of police or police commissioners could give conditional clearance, in rare cases, according to the orders issued by the Home department late Monday.

The decision comes in the wake of two incidents involving Telugu Desam Party which resulted in as many as 11 deaths in a space of three days recently.

Talking to media persons here on Tuesday, Adviser to the government Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, explained that the orders would apply to all political parties including the ruling YSR Congress Party.

“All road-side meetings and rallies are banned. We suggest choosing alternative venues. Instead of roads, they can hold meetings at open spaces. People are losing lives at Chandrababu meetings. We have seen what happened in Kandukuru and Guntur. Chandrababu caused loss of innocent lives,” he alleged.

The ban comes as a jolt to the opposition TDP and Jana Sena Party which are planning padayatras and road shows to cover the entire state to prepare for the next year elections.

It is quite likely that the ruling party meetings would be granted the so called conditional permission putting the opposition to a clear disadvantage, political observers opine.