Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday got injured in a stone pelting incident during his party's election campaign in Vijayawada, his office cited. The chief minister sustained a small cut on the left side of his temple above the eye during his ‘Memanta Siddham’ (we are all ready) election canvassing bus tour.
"The stone struck the CM while he was acknowledging the crowds as part of his bus tour at Vivekananda School Centre in Singh Nagar, Vijayawada," said a statement from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).
The stone hit Reddy at a very high velocity and officials suspect that it could have been launched from a catapult, prompting the people standing around him atop the bus to wipe his forehead with a handkerchief initially.
Immediately, the chief minister was administered first aid inside the bus by a doctor.
Reddy was seen being attended to by a doctor inside the bus and also grimacing from pain. However, unfazed by the stone pelting, he resumed his tour in the city, where he had been canvassing for nearly four hours.
Meanwhile, YSRCP leaders alleged that the TDP was behind this "attack". Reddy has embarked on a 21-day election campaign bus tour from Idupulupaya in the Kadapa district to Icchapuram in Srikakulam district.
Elections for the 175-member Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh are scheduled on May 13 and the counting of votes is slated for June 4.