The Hindu : Leaders indulge in blame game

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 18, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

Leaders indulge in blame game

By Our Special Correspondent

TIRUPATI. Nov. 17. A clear picture is yet to emerge in the mysterious murder that took place in the house of a local TDP leader in the early hours of Sunday sending shockwaves in the trouble-prone Korlagunta-Bypass road area in Tirupati.

Police investigating the case are also on a sticky wicket for two reasons -- one, the mutually conflicting statements issued by the accused, Parasuram and the TDP leader as to the motive behind the murder and secondly because of the political overtones the issue has assumed as the scene of offence was the house of a TDP leader and the Chairperson of the Tirupati Marketing Committee.

The murder has triggered a flurry of activity in the TDP and the Congress camps with both trading charges against each other and indulging in a blame game. The presence of the TDP leader in the episode has nonetheless caused serious embarrassment to the ruling party bigwigs giving an instant political leverage to the rival Congress, which is already out to cause a serious dent to the ruling dispensation here.

B. Karunakar Reddy, a PCC secretary and a close follower of the Congress leader, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, was quick to take a jibe at the caretaker Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, who always `bragged' about a peaceful and tranquil Tirupati. He alleged that in the sensitive Korlagunta-Bypass road-Mangalam area where the TDP leader was residing, as many as 27 murders or attempted murders have taken place during the last eight years. Mr. Reddy was referring indirectly to the oft-repeated complaint of Mr. Naidu that `some Congress leaders' were responsible for the import of the Cuddapah bomb culture and faction feuds in Tirupati.

The TDP leader, Anna Ramachandraiah, however, stoutly denied any involvement in the murder and offered to quit politics if his role was proved. "It is all the handiwork of some vested interests who were jealous over my political growth," he told reporters.

Meanwhile, the CPI demanded a CB-CID probe into the murder and charged that it was because of the casual attitude of the police and other authorities, that the murder spree was continuing unabated in the area.

The CPI district secretary, Harinadha Reddy, and the town secretary, Janardhan, in a statement sought an explanation from the TDP for the murder as its own functionary's name was figuring in the episode.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States