Sharmila under house arrest, stopped from visiting Amaravati

Vijayawada:  Congress’ Andhra Pradesh President Y.S. Sharmila was placed under house arrest here on Wednesday.

Police stopped Sharmila from leaving the house for Uddandarayunipalem, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone for the state capital, Amaravati, in 2015.

There was a tense situation as police personnel did not allow her to leave the house, saying there was no permission for the visit.

Sharmila raised an objection to the police action and told the police officers that she was leaving for the Congress office.

“Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister garu, Why am I house arrested in my villa in Vijaywada? for what reason ? Pls tell the people of AP. Just going to my work place- the PCC office is a crime now?”, Sharmila asked Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in a post on X.

“Why are you trying to curtail our constitutional rights? What is your govt afraid of?” she asked.

In another post, the state Congress chief pointed out that the party announced the Amaravati capital committee only two days ago. “The coalition government is scared even before the party announced its plan of action,” she said.

Sharmila claimed that she was going to the party office to chalk out a programme to make demands on the occasion of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Amaravati. She demanded that Chief Minister Naidu and Home Minister V. Anitha explain the reason for stopping her.

She alleged that police officers acted in a high-handed manner. She said police should act in accordance with the law.

“Andhra Pradesh already ranks third in the country for atrocities against women. Use your police force to protect women, not to lay hands on them,” she told the Chief Minister.

Sharmila said her party has the democratic right to hold a meeting and asked the government what it was trying to hide.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Amaravati on May 2 to relaunch Amaravati capital works.

The programme is scheduled to be held near the state Secretariat, which is away from Uddandarayunipalem, where the foundation stone was laid in 2015.

–IANS