Mild tension prevailed at the inauguration of the new Mandal Parishad Development Office (MPDO) at Valmikipuram of Piler Assembly constituency in the district on Monday, when cadres of the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Opposition YSR Congress Party (YSRC) simultaneously resorted to shouting slogans hailing Chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, in front of Forest Minister Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy.
YSRC MLA Chintala Ramachandra Reddy was holding a party meeting at his residence close to the new MPDO office, when the Minister was on the way to the venue. The police had to persuade some YSRC activists to give way for the Minister's convoy, which had to pass in front of the MLA’s house. Objecting to the police, about a hundred party workers led by the MLA rushed to the inauguration venue, raising pro-Jagan slogans.
When Mr Gopalakrishna Reddy arrived at the scene to unveil the plaque, the Opposition cadres had only intensified the pitch, forcing the TDP cadres to raise counter-slogans hailing Mr. Naidu's leadership.
As the pandemonium continued for about 10 minutes, with both sides advancing towards each other, the gesture of the minister and the MLA greeting each other did the trick to defuse the tension. Though the leaders stayed away from talking to each other, both had appealed to their respective cadres to keep silent. A few minutes later, the MLA and his party workers left the venue. Interestingly, Mr. Chintala Ramachandra Reddy was a senior TDP leader and former minister who joined the YSRC during the 2014 Assembly elections. The local police observed that as it was a public event, they could not prevent anyone from reaching the venue.
Speaking to the media, the Minister said that though construction of new MPDO office was grounded in 2012 during Kiran Kumar Reddy's regime , it was the TDP government which later took initiative to complete it by pumping in additional funds, totalling around ₹ 90 lakh.
