Vijayawada, Nov 4 (IANS): YSR Congress Party has alleged that the coalition government in Andhra Pradesh is using the police to intimidate and harass social media activists to gag the voice of people.
The opposition party said that it will explore all avenues to fight back but will continue to question the misdeeds of the ruling coalition.
YSRCP Legal Cell President V. Manohar Reddy said they would not hesitate to lodge private complaints against those who have illegally arrested the party’s social media activists
He along with party spokesperson Putha Siva Sankar Reddy and Kommuri Kanaka Rao addressed a press conference on the issue.
“The TDP has been misusing the police force to foist cases against social media activists and have been arresting them without giving 41A notices and whisking them away at odd hours without even stating why they are arresting them,” said Manohar Reddy.
Earlier, YSRCP president and former Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said that detaining social media activists is infringing their fundamental rights and a direct assault on the Constitutional guarantee. He posted on ‘X’ that these ‘politically motivated arrests of social media activists and their ill-treatment in the custody, driven by the influence of TDP leaders, is a grave violation of all the democratic principles.
“Such abuse of power by the police is unpardonable and goes against the very essence of the right to express. We strongly condemn these motivated actions and will not hesitate to take legal action to protect their rights, if it is not stopped forthwith,” he wrote.
The YSRCP leaders pointed out that in Krishna district alone 42 FIRs were filed on a single day. “The situation is no different elsewhere in the State. The dictatorial attitude of the government with the help of the police is to gag the voice of the people and opposition by terrorising them,” they said.
Meanwhile, YSRCP General Secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy emphasized the party's strong commitment to protecting social media activists facing false cases and harassment.
In a teleconference with party leaders and coordinators, he highlighted the spike in cases of targeting social media activists by the TDP-led coalition government as part of a deliberate effort to suppress their voices and prevent them from exposing government failures.
He stressed the importance of supporting activists who challenge false propaganda and promote public awareness. He conveyed that party president Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed the party to stand by social media activists, ensuring they felt secure and backed by YSRCP.
Constituency coordinators were asked to assure activists of the party’s support and to quickly respond when assistance is needed, including providing legal backing. Sajjala mentioned that the YSRCP legal cell and district teams are prepared to act swiftly in cases of harassment.
Botsa Satyanarayana, opposition leader in the Legislative Council, called for exposing the government’s vendetta against social media representatives and reaffirmed the party's commitment to responding promptly and coordinating through the central office and legal team to offer protection and support.
The opposition party leaders said while social media has the right to highlight the failures of the State government, the police have been crushing them to please their bosses. They said even the posts on the mishandling of the recent flood situation in Vijayawada were not taken positively and there was a crackdown.
The YSRCP leaders said those who posted derogatory comments on Jagan Mohan Reddy and his family members were not taken into custody but social media posts reporting facts were dealt with unfairly.