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N Chandrababu Naidu being shifted from Tirupati to a hospital in Hyderabad.

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

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Naxals attack Naidu

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu had a narrow escape when his convoy struck a claymore mine on the road at the foothills of Tirumala on October 1. Naidu, on his way to Tirupati to worship at the Lord Venkateswara temple, was not seriously hurt; his travelling companion suffered grievous injury.

The police said the People's War, a Naxalite group seeking a violent overthrow of the government, was behind the attack.

The incident saw a surge of sympathy for him across the state. Sensing the sentiment, Naidu's Telugu Desam Party decided to go in for early elections. On November 14, the Andhra Pradesh assembly was dissolved.

But Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh made it clear the Election Commission would announce a date for the Andhra Pradesh election only after it completed the revision of electoral rolls in January.

Text: Salil Kumar

Naidu hurt in blast
Naidu favours polls before March 2004
More reports from Andhra Pradesh

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