Amaravati, Jan 20 (PTI): TDP senior leader and former minister K Kala Venakata Rao was arrested on Wednesday on the charge of instigating an attack on the ruling YSR Congress MP V Vijayasai Reddy earlier this month.

He was arrested from his residence at Rajam town in Srikakulam district, police said.

He was then taken to Nellimarla in Vizianagram district.

The TDP condemned the arrest and termed it as 'vendetta politics' unleashed by the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy regime.

Police had booked a case against several TDP leaders, including Chandrababu Naidu, for allegedly instigating an attack on the YSRC MP's car when they visited Ramatheertham recently to inspect a desecrated idol of Lord Rama.

The MP alleged that the TDP leaders provoked their cadres to hurl stones and other objects in an attempt to murder him.

Police claimed that they identified some of the miscreants as followers of Venkata Rao and accordingly he was arrested.

The TDP lashed out at the government over this and said their leader was arrested only to cover up the 'failure' to arrest the real culprits involved in the temple desecration.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)