Two Telugu Desam Party leaders were put under house arrest on Thursday, a day ahead of the Cabinet meeting of the Andhra Pradesh government to approve Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy’s proposed three-capital formula, reported Hindustan Times.

The situation in the state has been tense ever since Jagan Mohan Reddy last week declared the creation of three capitals – an executive capital at Vishakhapatnam, legislative capital at Amaravati, and judicial capital at Kurnool. An expert committee report had recommended the formation of as many as three capitals for Andhra.

TDP Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas and MLC Buddha Venkanna were on their way to Amaravati to participate in the “maha dharna” organised by the farmers of 29 villages against the shifting of capital, and were placed under house arrest.

Former Chief Minister and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu said the YSR Congress government will pay for displaying a “unilateral, dictatorial and suppressive attitude”, ANI reported.

He called the move to place the leaders under house arrest undemocratic and unilateral. “They are trying to gain political mileage through divisive politics,” Naidu added. “Freedom of expression is being suppressed.”

The TDP chief also accused the YSR Congress government of needlessly raising questions over developing Amravati as the state capital. “It is undemocratic to prevent public representatives from going to a meeting of the Amaravati Parirakshana Samiti Joint Action Committee,” Naidu said. “The YSRCP government is creating panic among the people of 29 villages. They have created a police raj through the deployment of thousands of police personnel.”

Srinivas told reporters that the TDP MPs would soon meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seek his intervention in the matter.

The party has called for a complete shutdown in the state on December 28 if the Cabinet decides to go ahead with its decision to move the present capital.

“We shall wait for the Cabinet decision,” senior TDP leader and former minister Prathipati Pulla Rao said. “If it goes ahead with its plan to shift the executive capital to Visakhapatnam, we shall call for a state shutdown on Saturday.”

Security has been tightened and the police are not allowing “outsiders” to enter Amaravati.

YSR Congress General Secretary V Vijay Sai Reddy told reporters that the shifting of capital from Amaravati to Vijayawada was final and the Cabinet would approve the same on Friday. “In the coming days, all the administrative works will commence from Visakhapatnam,” he added.