Andhra Pradesh NGOs' Association president Paruchuri Ashok Babu, who has been under attack for campaigning against Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka assembly elections, defended his decision and said he had every right to put forth his view point.
He told media in Vijayawada on Tuesday that he had conducted a couple of meetings in Bengaluru only on behalf of the AP Hakkula Sadhana Samithi and led a team of 15 persons.
“I have not campaigned on behalf of the TDP which has nothing to do with Karnataka elections. I only sought to explain to the Telugu people how Modi government had done injustice to Andhra Pradesh. I did not tell them to vote for either this party or that party,” he said.
Reacting to the BJP leaders’ complaint to the Election Commission against him for campaigning in the elections despite being a government employee, Ashok said he had participated in the meetings only after taking permissions from the EC.
He wondered whether the BJP leaders did not remember the rules when they sought his support in the MLC elections. He said he was ready to resign from his job if he was harassed.
He said he was not taking up agitations in AP only because he did not want to trouble the Telugu Desam Government.
Howevere, reports say Ashok Babu organized a meeting of Telugu community in Bengaluru, where he asked the people not to vote for the BJP and vote for the Congress.
The local Telugus questioned his credentials and stalled his speech. He also organized another meeting in Marthahalli –Whitefields Road. There too, a huge section of the Telugus opposed him.
