Mumbai:
Andhra Pradesh's leaders are lining up to conduct tours of different parts of the state - navigated, as always, by a political agenda. First, Jagan Mohan Reddy defied his party's orders to conduct his "odarpu yatra" - he's visiting the families of those, whose members died, allegedly of shock, after hearing of the helicopter crash that killed Jagan's father, former Chief Minister YSR Reddy. Now, Chandrababu Naidu has been arrested for his bus yatra.
The chief of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was taken into preventive custody with 70 other politicians as they tried to visit the Babhali dam in Maharashtra. The bus journey was meant to allow Naidu and company to inspect whether Maharashtra is grabbing more than its share of water from the River Godavari. The Andhra government has challenged the construction of the dam in the Supreme Court.
"Despite the matter being subjudice, Chandrababu's visit becomes illegal and it may threaten law and order situation in the area," warned RR Patil, Maharashtra's Home Minister, when Naidu was about to cross the border.
Naidu's bus journey comes as the Telangana region gets ready for assembly by-elections in 12 constituencies. Naidu is clearly keen to drive home the point that he's fighting for Telangana's water, the area votes on July 27.