Andhra Pradesh’s ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader and legislator R. K. Roja on Thursday faced the ire of farmers protesting against decentralisation of the state capital.

Farmers, most of them women, stopped the actor-turned-politician’s vehicle for more than an hour, raising slogans against her and demanding that Amaravati remain the only state capital.

Carrying placards, the protestors sat on the road and later surrounded her vehicle, demanding an apology for the comment that “paid artistes” were carrying out the protests over the capital.

Roja, who is also Chairperson of the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), was returning from SRM University after attending a conference when the protestors blocked her way at Neerukonda.

The protestors told Roja that farmers who gave their lands are not “paid artistes”. Police had a tough time in controlling the protestors. Another vehicle was arranged to send her through an alternate route.

However, the farmers again stopped her car at Pedaparimi. The police personnel rushed to the spot and tried to disperse the protestors.

When the protestors came closer to Roja’s vehicle, policemen stood as a wall around the car to prevent any untoward incident.

Police pushed back the protestors and in the melee a woman fell unconscious and another sustained minor injury.

Police finally succeeded in clearing the way for the MLA, who later blamed Leader of Opposition and TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu for the attack.

She told reporters that Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy is committed to the welfare of the farmers in Amaravati region. She said there was no question of neglecting Amaravati as it would be the legislative capital of the state where all the Bills would be framed.

“If the protests continue, no investor will come forward to set up an institution in Amaravati. The public should remain calm and maintain peace,” she said.

Farmers in Amaravati region have been protesting for more than two months against the YSRCP government’s move to develop Visakhapatnam and Kurnool as the two other state capitals.

The way YS Jagan’s formed his first cabinet by giving appropriate importance to all sections is being appreciated by many. Especially the decision of giving a clear indication that 90% of these ministers have to leave their seats after 2.5 years is also being appreciated by political pundits as well as common people alike. But the trio that missed the bus – Ambati Rambabu, Alla Rama Krishna, and Roja became the talk of the town now.

Ambati Rambabu has been with Jagan even before he launched the party. He has been loyal to Jagan as well as the party and he was the one who vociferously defended Jagan in media debates for the last 7 years. He was the one who showed up in front of media even when party faced a humiliating defeat in Nandyal by-elections and subsequent local elections. However, Jagan didn’t consider him for ministry now.

Alla Ramakrishna Reddy also had fought with the TDP government through legal battles. He was the one who filed numerous petitions against the CBN government in the courts on every possible occasion. Moreover, he defeated Nara Lokesh in Mangalagiri constituency. But Jagan seems to have sidelined him as well, at least for now.

Firebrand Roja is very popular among people given her cinema background. She also has been with Jagan since the beginning. She hit the headlines when the then speaker Kodela Siva Prasad suspended her from assembly for a year. She also was very vocal questioning the TDP government during call money incidents. However, she also missed the bus now.

All of these missed the ministry because of Jagan’s attempt to balance the castes and regions while allotting ministries. All of them have to wait for two and a half years for the next chance.

Roja has always been in the news with her sharp comments on the opponents. In fact not many cinema heroines has the political knowledge as much she has. She is always ready to discuss on any political topic without any preparation. But the main problem with her is she suddenly loses her control and gives some nasty comments that will spoil the entire mood of the debate and finally harms her and her party. The way she spoke in a TV debate with Bandla Ganesh yesterday appalled many.

The debate was about the speech of Pawan Kalyan and his remarks on YS Jaganmohan Reddy regarding dynasty politics. Pawan Kalyan found fault with Jagan aspiring for CM seat immediately after his father’s death. Roja strongly responded to this remark and commented even Pawan Kalyan has come to film industry because of his brother Chiranjeevi only. So the debate was on PK’s comments, Roja’s response on that and her language while responding. During the debate she lost control and questioned Bandla Ganesh in a nasty language (equating him as a pimp) and told she will knock his teeth out. Bandla also fired on her shameful language, being an MLA.

Roja’s language has always been detrimental to her party. Many people still opine Roja’s comments during Nandyala bypoll regarding Akhila’s dressing turned the tide in favour ruling party. Even though Jagan also made some ‘violent’ comments. many YSRCP fans opine it is Roja’s comments that did more damage to the party. Some YSRCP fans even went on to the extent of suspecting whether she is a covert from other parties to damage YSRCP. Though that is not true, she needs to use the words carefully being in public life. Her foul language should not be encouraged and she has to change herself on how she talks in the presence of media.