Former union minister and Rajya Sabha member Y S Chowdary on Tuesday alleged that the attack on a leader of YSR Congress Party in Ongole and threats to realtor Jagdishwar Reddy in Visakhapatnam indicate the lawlessness in Andhra Pradesh.

He urged the victims to fearlessly lodge complaints with the police and send him a copy of the same. The BJP MP tweeted that he would stand by the victims. He asked the complainants to mail a copy of their police complaints to saveandhrapradesh2022@gmail.com.

Alleging that the ruling party leaders are threatening others, Chowdary demanded that Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy immediately put an end to this practice.

The MP’s statement came a day after G Subba Rao, a local leader of the ruling YSR Congress party was thrashed by a group of party activists for reportedly criticising some party leaders. A group of YSRCP workers, claiming to be supporters of energy minister Balineni Srinivas Reddy, thrashed Subba Rao and forced him to kneel and tender an apology. The video of the incident went viral on social media.

Subba Rao had criticised some party leaders for bringing disrepute to the ruling party. After a video of his remarks went viral, some workers of YSRCP staged a protest outside his house. They later tracked him to a lodge in Guntur and assaulted him.

Reacting to the incident, minister Srinivas Reddy had told reporters that he called up his supporters and ordered them to stop assaulting Subba Rao. Claiming that Subba Rao is his follower, the minister said he might have made some remarks after losing his composure. He said even his family members complained to him that he had been behaving differently at home.

Subba Rao visited Ongole police station late on Monday and lodged a complaint. However, in a dramatic turn he later left for Vijayawada and called on minister Srinivas Reddy. They also participated in Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy’s birthday celebrations. The minister cut a cake and offered a piece to Subba Rao. Claiming that he has always been a supporter of YSRCP and the minister, Subba Rao clarified that he made certain observations over developments in the party.