Telugu Desam party chief Chandrababu Naidu travelled from Telangana to Andhra Pradesh on Monday, violating the lockdown rules laid down by Telangana government.
Well, Naidu travelled by road from Hyderabad to Amravati. Apparently he had returned to his home after two months.
While the government has urged people not to venture out of their houses, Naidu travelled from one state to another. What's worse is that Naidu was welcomed by a huge crowd of supporters which raised concerns about social distancing.
On Monday, Naidu had crossed the Garikapadu check post at the Andhra Pradesh - Telangana border. Andhra Pradesh Police allowed Naidu's convoy to enter the state after proper checking was carried out. Naidu went to Hyderabad on March 22.
After flouting lockdown rules, Naidu was slammed for not following the guidelines and putting lives at risk. He was even asked to be in quarantine for 14 days.
YSRCP leader Gadikota Srikanth Reddy on Monday slammed TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu for allegedly breaking social distancing and other guidelines to be followed during the COVID-19 pandemic while returning to the state earlier today.
"The whole country is following lockdown till May 31, everybody is maintaining social distancing and following other guidelines related to COVID-19. However today, Chandrababu Naidu took out a rally from Hyderabad, hundreds of people gathered, garlanded him, without using masks. Being a senior politician how could he do so, he should apologize," Reddy told ANI.
"He entered the state today, coming from a red zone he should go into quarantine. Naidu, however, is trying to politicize the situation, he was playing politics through the Zoom app while he was in Hyderabad, and suddenly he came today in a big convoy. He should be quarantined as he has crossed a state border according to the rules, especially since he is coming from a red zone," the Andhra government's Chief Whip added.
(TDP) on Monday said that its party cadres welcoming Chandrababu Naidu was not a planned move and had happened despite the Chief warning party leaders and workers to abstain from holding any function to welcome him back to the state.
"It was not planned. Chandrababu Naidu had himself made it clear to party cadres not to come and welcome him. But despite that some of our party cadres came out on the roads to greet him. It was a spontaneous response from the cadre who had been missing their leader for the past two months due to the lockdown," K Pattabhiram, TDP spokesperson told ANI here.
"Naidu had obtained permission from the DGPs of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. We had not asked anyone to gather to welcome him," he added.
The TDP leader further slammed the ruling YSRCP for targeting its chief and said, "YSRCP MLAs Madhusudan Reddy and RK Roja and party MP and senior leader Vijayasai Reddy had violated lockdown norms and roamed among the people. TDP leader respects the laws, we are going to celebrate our party plenary through webinar due to lockdown. That is how responsible TDP is."
Earlier, on Monday, BJP leader Manoj Tiwari managed to escape the lockdown rules. He was seen playing cricket. A video by Times Now showed that Tiwari flouted all the norms and guidelines issued by the government and reached Sonipat in Haryana from Delhi. He played a game of cricket at an academy in Sheikhpura of Sonipat district.
From the visuals one can interpret that Tiwari did not even wear a mask.
Union Minister Sadananda Gowda who landed in Bengaluru from Delhi on Monday refused to quarantine himself as per the protocol laid down by the Karnataka government.
After facing flak from the opposition for skipping quarantine rules to contain COVID-19 spread, Gowda on Monday said there are certain exemption clauses for those who hold certain responsible posts, adding that he cannot go under quarantine as he has to ensure medical supply in every part of the country.
After the Sadananda Gowda episode, Karnataka government exempted Union and state ministers and officials from quarantine, which it made mandatory for all entering the state from other states or overseas to contain the Covid-19 outbreak, a top official said on Monday.
"The ministers of Union government or state governments or officers on duty will be exempted from quarantine as has been done for health professionals," said state Health Commissioner P.K. Pandey in an order here.
