By IANS,
Hyderabad: Pro-Telangana activists Wednesday heckled Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu when he visited a jail here to meet TDP leaders arrested for attacking advocates who had disrupted a party meeting.
Tension prevailed outside Cherlapally jail on the outskirts of the city as activists of Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) stopped Naidu’s convoy as he came to call on TDP corporators and other leaders.
Raising slogans of “Jai Telangana”, the protesters asked Naidu to make his stand clear on the issue of Telangana. They entered into an argument with TDP activists who came to the rescue of their leader. The two groups clashed as police intervened and arrested pro-Telangana protesters.
The former chief minister met two TDP corporators and another party leader in jail. They were arrested early this month for an attack on lawyers. The TDP leaders had attacked advocates March 6 when they had disrupted Naidu’s speech at a party programme, demanding that he make his stand clear on the issue.
Few advocates were injured in the incident, which triggered massive protests by pro-Telangana lawyerss. They even prevented other lawyers from defending the TDP leaders arrested in the case.
Naidu had rejected the demand of the all-party JAC to tender an apology to the advocates, which finally led to JAC convenor M. Kodandaram expelling Telangana leaders of TDP from the apex body fighting for a separate Telangana state.