The Chittoor district administration has made all arrangements for the two-day official trip of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to Kuppam Assembly constituency on June 25 and 26 (Tuesday and Wednesday).
Mr. Naidu is scheduled to arrive in Kuppam on Tuesday afternoon. The Chief Minister will begin his visit with an inspection of the Kuppam branch canal of the Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi (HNSS) project at Chaldiganipalle and Chinnari Doddi villages in Shantipuram mandal. At 3 pm, he is scheduled to deliver a public meeting at NTR Circle in Kuppam, followed by a private meeting with party leaders of Chittoor district in the evening.
On Wednesday, he will receive representations from the public at the local R&B Guest House, followed by a review meeting with the officials of various departments at Government Degree College in Kuppam and a meeting with the party members of Kuppam Assembly constituency at the campus of PES Medical College in Gudupalle mandal before returning to Amaravati.
Meanwhile, in a move that has sparked much curiosity among the police department and the TDP cadre in the region, the Deputy Inspector General (Anantapur Range) attached all four Sub-Inspectors (SIs) of Gudupalle, Rallabuduguru, Kuppam and Ramakuppam police stations, and two Circle Inspectors of Kuppam Rural and Urban to the Vacancy Reserve (VR) in Chittoor and Anantapur, on the eve of the Chief Minister’s visit to Kuppam. The move has sparked speculation that similar action will be taken in other districts in the coming days. Some officials have said the move gains significance considering the violent incidents that marred Mr. Naidu’s visit to Ramakuppam in 2023.
A few weeks before Mr. Naidu’s arrest in the Skill Development Corporation case, violence broke out at Angallu village in Annamayya district, and later on the outskirts of Punganur last year, with the police officials preventing him from entering the town stating that he had no permission to do so. A police constable lost vision in one eye after being injured in stone-pelting by a mob. Later, over 500 TDP workers were arrested.
Meanwhile, Mr. Naidu’s planned inspection of the HNSS branch canal in the constituency has become a bone of contention. On February 26 this year, former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy visited Kuppam and officially launched the release of HNSS waters into the branch canal, amidst huge fanfare. However, the release was halted within a few hours, and the material used for the water release were also removed from the site. Mr. Naidu had alleged that the water release was “a farce”. This issue is expected to be a key point of discussion during the review meeting, it is observed.
