Craze for publicity led to the disaster: Kakani

Nellore: Agriculture minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy said the Kandukur tragedy occurred only due to 'publicity craze' of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu. Addressing the media at the party office here on Thursday, he asked how they had failed to follow crowd management protocols ignoring safety precautions while organising such mass meetings in the congested places. He said innocent people were brought from various places in the constituency for roadshows who died only due to negligence of the Opposition leader.

Govardhan Reddy said Naidu wanted to publicise the huge crowds attending the roadshow as a proof of his popularity that finally led to the disaster and held the TDP chief for the loss of lives. The craze for drone shots and photoshoots, the Minister charged, are turning a bane to the poor who are being shifted for public meetings.

The agriculture minister said this kind of attitude during Godavari Pushkaram at Rajahmundry in 2015 caused the death of 29 persons and these practices are common to the 'publicity-monger Babu'. He said Chandrababu always tries to attract the attention of the people with graphics and false projections. This is the 'Karma for Andhra people', he added.