Govt to blame for failure to check riots: Naidu

The state government has failed to contain the violence in the Old City ever since its eruption on Saturday, alleged Telugu Desam president N Chandrababau Naidu.

Admitting former municipal chairman of Dharmavam and Bharatiya Janata Party leader K Kanchana into Telugu Desam fold at the NTR Bhavan here on Friday, Naidu blamed internal disputes in the Congress as responsible for igniting communal clashes in the Old City.

Some Congress leaders hatched a conspiracy to foment communal passions in the Old City to get political mileage, he alleged. Both the State and the Central government had failed miserable to contain violence in the riot-hit areas.

During the Telugu Desam tenure, the state was peaceful and no communal clashes were reported from elsewhere, he claimed.

The TDP leader also suspected the handiwork of henchmen of rich ganglords or ruffians behind the communal violence.  He called upon his party cadres to expose the government inefficiency in tackling the violence in the Old City during their campaigns.

Chief Minister K Rosaiah was planning to water down the schemes meant for the the poor and the downtrodden launched by his government. “This is not a good sign,” he said.

Naidu demanded that the Chief Minister quit if he fails to curb the sky-rocketing prices of essential commodities in the market.