The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Fracas over selection of Vijayawada Congress chief

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Wednesday, Apr 20, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Fracas over selection of Vijayawada Congress chief

Special Correspondent

Members try to gherao returning officer

HIGH DRAMA: The former Deputy Mayor, Venkata Satyanarayana, in a heated exchange with the city Congress committee president, Kadiyala Butchi Babu, in Vijayawada on Tuesday. The Tadikonda MLA and returning officer, D. Manikya Varaprasada Rao, looks on . Photo: Raju V.

VIJAYAWADA: Congressmen are at it again. Displaying the party's much-famed `internal democracy' in full measure, two groups of Congress workers created a fracas at a meeting convened at the Andhra Ratna Bhavan, the party's district headquarters, on Tuesday.

The meeting of the `active' party members was convened to bring about `unanimity' in the selection of the city Congress committee president, the post presently held by Kadiyala Butchi Babu. But, the meeting ended in a fiasco as the two groups -- one in favour of continuance of Mr. Butchi Babu and the other demanding the conduct of elections to the key city post -- vied with one another to convey their views to the party's returning officer and Tadikonda MLA, Dokka Manikya Varaprasada Rao.

Charges fly

Slogans in support of and against Mr. Butchi Babu rent the air for over two hours even as the angry members demanding elections to the city Congress committee president's post tried to gherao Mr. Varaprasada Rao in full media glare and they just stopped short of exchanging blows. and members supporting elections even barged into the room where Mr. Varaprasad was addressing the media and accused him of colluding with Mr. Butchi Babu to deny genuine Congress workers an opportunity to grow.

The returning officer, accompanied by Mr. Butchi Babu, read out a resolution claiming that the party members `unanimously' decided to entrust the responsibility of selection of the city Congress president to the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) even as slogans in favour of elections continued outside the room.

Stir threat

At this stage, one of the main contenders to the post, K. Gangadhara Rao, barged into the room and submitted a written representation to Mr. Varaprasada Rao asking the party leadership to hold organisational elections. "I am only trying to prevent the party from falling into the hands of the rich and I will stage an indefinite hunger strike in front of Gandhi Bhavan, the party's State headquarters, if elections are not held," he said.

Left with no other option, Mr. Butchi Babu was forced to claim that he was not opposed to the conduct of elections to the post. "I am prepared for the elections and I will abide by whatever decision the party leadership takes," he said.

Faced with an embarrassing situation, Mr. Varaprasada Rao assured the agitated members that he would convey the views of different groups to the party's State leadership and ask it to take a final decision. The problem, however, did not subside here as the members squatted at the entrance and the steps of the Andhra Ratna Bhavan preventing the movement of people. It was only after much persuasion that they left the venue.

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