Political rallies provide platform to interact with people, says CPI (M) after Andhra govt bans public meetings on roads

Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India], January 28 (ANI): Communist Party of India (M) politburo member B V Raghavulu on Saturday said the government orderbrought by the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress (YSRC) government is an attempt to thwart opposition parties.
Raghavulu, while speaking to reporters, accused the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government of snatching the rights of parties by bringing old government orders with new names.
The order comes in the wake of a stampede at a rally earlier this month organised by the main opposition Telugu Desam Party at Kandukuru in which eight people were killed. The prohibitory order was issued later in the month under the provisions of the Police Act, of 1861.
"It provides a platform to meet people directly to address their public issues," Raghavulu said.
"The padayatra trend has been running in Andhra Pradesh. We express our solidarity with the Yatra taken by political parties under the auspices of Special Status Sadhana Samiti," he added.
The YSR Congress government has prohibited public meetings and rallies from being held on roads, including national highways, citing public safety.
He also said "those" who are taking padayatra in democracy should be welcomed.
Notably, Rayalaseema Saaguneeti Sadhana Samiti (RSSS), in 2019, launched a 100-km-long padayatra from Nandyal town to demand a rightful share of water for backward regions in the state.
Earlier in the month, S Vishnuvardhan Reddy, the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP General Secretary in the state criticised the Andhra Pradesh government for its strange decision of banning public meetings on roads and said the political parties have the right to hold rallies.
Raghavulu accused the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government of taking away the rights of Sarpanches in the state.
"It is foolish of him to mock democracy and bring village swaraj. Village Panchayats should be given rights and funds," he added.
He added that the state government should be pressured to withdraw the privatization proposal" of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. (ANI)