Differences came to the fore at the Korutla Congress Assembly constituency meeting in Korutla on Monday with the supporters of former legislator Komireddy Ramulu and former Minister J Ratnakar Rao clashing over the issue of not inviting the supporters of Mr. Ramulu on to the dais.
When the party organisers were calling the leaders on to the dais, the supporters of Ramulu, including single window chairman Laxma Reddy, protested for not being invited on to the stage and not printing the photo of Ramulu on the vinyl poster. Ironically, Mr Ramulu did not attend the meeting and was away in Hyderabad.
Supporters chased
At this juncture, the supporters of Mr Ratnakar Rao chased away Mr Ramulu’s supporters and hurled chairs at them. Later, the meeting was continued for over four hours under the chairmanship of DCCB president K Ravinder Rao, K Santosh Kumar, MLC, Dharmapuri Sri Laxmi Narasimha Swamy Devsathanam chairman J Krishna Rao and others.
Ever since the delimitation of the Assembly constituencies in the district, differences arose between the Ratnakar Rao and Ramulu groups after the 2009 elections. Mr Ratnakara Rao contested elections in 2009 from Korutla Assembly segment, but lost to TRS candidate K Vidyasagar Rao. Since then, he maintained a low profile and recently announced his retirement from active politics.
However, his sons, J Krishna Rao and J Narsinga Rao, were active in politics. Mr Krishna Rao was made the Dharmapuri temple chairman and was also playing a crucial role in the Korutla Assembly segment politics. Mr Krishna Rao and Narsinga Rao mobilised a large number of party workers for the success of the meeting. The supporters of Mr Krishna Rao and Mr Narsinga Rao thrashed the supporters of Mr Ramulu for obstructing the smooth conduct of the meeting. When contacted, DCC president K Ravinder Rao said that “it was a small tussle over not inviting the leaders on to the dais. However, the meeting passed off peacefully later for over four hours and discussed various issues about strengthening the party and conduct of party elections.”
