The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : TD, Congress workers clash; civic chief attacked

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

TD, Congress workers clash; civic chief attacked

By Our Correspondent

KAKINADA, APRIL 27. In the aftermath of the second phase of the elections, the port town of Kakinada witnessed clashes between Telugu Desam Party and Congress workers today.

The police had to fire in the air to disperse a group, stated to be followers of the Kakinada Assembly constituency Congress candidate, Mutha Gopalakrishna, when it tried to attack the house-cum-hospital premises of the Municipal chairperson, Chandrasekhar, who incurred the wrath of Congress workers at the municipal office earlier in the day.

It was virtually a street fight between the two groups at the Kalpana centre with bottles and stones being hurled at each other.

Trouble began when a 300-strong crowd led by Mutha Gopalakrishna and the town Congress president, Dwarampudi Chandrasekhara Reddy, gatecrashed into the chamber of the civic chairperson while he was amidst a press briefing, shouting at him for joining the Telugu Desam just three days prior to the polling. The mob ransacked furniture and assaulted the chairperson.

The mob asked Dr. Chandrasekhar to resign from the post of chairperson as he was elected to the post on the Congress banner. They threw currency notes and coins at him for allegedly defecting to the ruling party for the sake of money. The police then rushed to the spot and chased away the crowd.

A group of Telugu Desam workers later came to the municipal office and started raising slogans challenging the Congress workers. The former MLA, Vanamadi Venkateswera Rao, arrived at the scene and staged a `rasta roko' along with the chairperson and other followers demanding action against the `guilty'. The police, led by the Deputy Superintendent of Police, advised both groups to disperse. While Bhaskar, Three Town Sub Inspector, chased the mob earlier, this time it was the DSP, Sherifuddin, and the Circle Inspector, Avila Subba Rao, who ordered the use of force, if the mob failed to disperse. When the Congress and TDP men became violent, the DSP ordered a lathicharge. They took the former MLA and the Municipal chairperson to the police station and took complaints from them.

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