TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu has entered judicial remand for the first time in his illustrious 45-year-long political career. Despite numerous charges leveled against him during his years in the opposition, he had never faced an arrest of this nature until now. It took the YCP government to make that unprecedented move.
Chandrababu was first elected as an MLA in 1978 and swiftly rose through the political ranks. He became a minister in 1981 and assumed the role of Chief Minister in 1995. His political journey spans 14 years as Chief Minister, 14 years as the leader of the opposition, and five years as the Deputy Leader of the Opposition.
Throughout his extensive political career, there were a few instances where he faced brief detentions. In 2011, he, along with his party’s MLAs and MPs, visited the Babli project site in opposition to its construction by the Maharashtra government on the Godavari river.
Maharashtra Police detained him at the border and held him in a nearby facility. Despite police urging him to leave, he refused and remained in custody for two and a half days before being forcibly sent to Hyderabad on a special flight, without any charges filed.
In 2012, he initiated a fast-to-death protest on farmers’ issues at the MLA quarters in Hyderabad. Four days later, the police arrested him early in the morning and transported him to the hospital, again without filing any charges.
In 2005, during a Prime Minister’s visit, he staged a dharna to protest the Congress government’s renaming of the Begumpet airport. The police took him into custody and detained him in an old city stadium for a brief period before releasing him.
In the past, he also protested against the forced eviction of the poor slum, Bhimrao Wada, near Gandhi Bhavan, the Congress headquarters in Hyderabad. Even then, the police detained and later released him, without the need for formal arrests or court appearances.
However, it was the YCP government that broke the pattern by arresting him in the skill development case on Saturday morning and transporting him from Nandyala to Vijayawada by road, eventually producing him before a magistrate on Sunday evening.
