Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Chaos at Krishna Congress meeting

— PHOTO: CH. VIJAYA BHASKAR

AGITATED LOT: Supporters of former MLA Samineni Udayabhanu raising slogans at the Krishna district review meeting of the Congress in Vijayawada on Friday.

VIJAYAWADA: The Congress party’s poor showing in Krishna district in the Assembly elections – where it won only six of the total 16 seats – found an echo in the district review meet addressed by APCC president D. Srinivas on Friday, when slogans and counter-slogans were raised by warring groups of at least two Assembly segments.

A few minutes before Mr. Srinivas was about to speak, followers of Samineni Udayabhanu, who lost in Jaggayyapeta constituency, rushed to the dais and demanded suspension of Rebala Mohana Rao, a dissident leader, from the party for allegedly working against Mr. Udayabhanu.

They did not heed the repeated pleas of Mr. Srinivas, who warned them that the party would not brook any display of dissent.

“I view this seriously. The party knows what to do. We will take action at the right time,” he said.

Mr. Udayabhanu asked his followers to refrain from raising any slogans. “He (Mohana Rao) does not command any respect among people and don’t give him unnecessary importance,” he remarked, prompting Mr. Srinivas to take exception to the remark.

Mr. Udayabhanu later came down and pushed his followers away from the dais to stop them from creating any ugly situation.

Also, long-standing differences between M.V. Pratapa Appa Rao, who was defeated from Nuzvid, and MLC Paladugu Venkata Rao came to the fore after conclusion of the meeting.

Mr. Appa Rao’s supporters indulged in sloganeering ostensibly aimed against Mr. Venkata Rao.

They continued their sloganeering on Bandar Road, prompting Mr. Venkata Rao’s followers to raise counter slogans. This brought traffic on the road to a halt. The situation would have taken an ugly turn had Mr. Venkata Rao not left the place by then. The police intervened and dispersed them.

The PCC chief did not allow any leader to address the gathering. He made it clear that the party’s screening committee would decide the action to be taken against those who allegedly worked against the party nominees, “if the charges are established.”

The district’s sole ministerial representative K. Parthasarathi and Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal were conspicuously absent.

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