Several senior leaders of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), including former Ministers Dharmana Prasada Rao and Dharmana Krishna Das and MLC Kumbha Ravibabu, strongly condemned the arrest of the party’s Amadalavalasa constituency in-charge Chintada Ravikumar on Saturday (August 8, 2026) night on the outskirts of Srikakulam.

The police arrested Mr. Ravikumar and 25 others on charges of misbehaviour with a woman Sub-Inspector during former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s visit on July 30, 2026 to Ampolu to console former Minister Seediri Appalaraju, who had been arrested in an accident case involving his son.

In a press release, Mr. Prasada Rao alleged that the State government had misused the police for political vendetta against YSRCP leaders in Srikakulam and other parts of the State.

He alleged that a heated argument with the police during Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s visit had been made a pretext to arrest Mr. Ravikumar in the case. He said video footage clearly showed that Mr. Ravikumar had not misbehaved with anyone during the visit.

Mr. Ravibabu asked the government to withdraw all cases filed against the YSRCP leaders, saying they had not crossed their limits. The party staged protests in Amadalavalasa and other places over the arrests. Family members of some of the accused claimed that many of them were not in town on July 30, 2026, but their names were included in the First Information Report intentionally.