The violence that erupted in Amalapuram town in Konaseema district of Andhra Pradesh leading to the agitated mob setting fire to the residences of state transport minister Pinipe Vishawarup and Mummidivaram MLA Ponnada Satish on Tuesday evoked a shock and surprise across the state.
Normally, nobody would dare raise any objection if any place or building is named after father of nation Mahatma Gandhi or father of constitution B R Ambedkar.
Perhaps, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy also thought the same and expected that it would fetch a lot of goodwill to the ruling YSRC among the Dalits, who dominate the Konaseema area.
But the government has not expected that there would be protests even against Ambedkar’s name. The protestors, obviously belonging to upper caste groups like Kapus, resisted the decision and have been agitating against renaming of the district.
They are demanding that Konaseema name should not be prefixed with any other name. They formed into a joint action committee under Konaseema Zilla Sadhana Samithi and have been protesting against renaming of the district.
This led to the violent agitation on Tuesday as the protests indulged in stone pelting against the police, including the superintendent of police and setting fire to several vehicles, including a school bus. A few policemen injured in the incident.
Later, hundreds of protestors stormed the residence of transport minister Pinipe Viswaroop in Kamanagaru area. They attacked the house with stones, broke the window panes and ransacked the furniture.
They also damaged the escort vehicle of the minister’s convoy. They also went to the housing board colony in the town and attacked the house of Mummidivaram MLA Satish and set fire to the house.
The YSRC lost no time in shifting the blame on the Jana Sena Party, which is a dominant force in the region. State home minister Taneti Vanitha alleged that Jana Sena Party and the Telugu Desam Party were behind the violent mob. She said the perpetrators of violence in Amalapuram will not be spared.
“Konaseema district was named after the architect of Indian Constitution as per the aspirations of the local people,” she said.
Jana Sena Party chief and actor Pawan Kayan, however, quickly denied the allegation.
He said it was unfortunate that the home minister sought to blame Jana Sena for the violence, without even cross checking.
He also strongly condemned the violence in Amalapuram town. He appealed to the people to maintain peace and see that normalcy is restored.
“The government has miserably failed to maintain law and order in the state. It is unnecessarily creating issues to disturb the peace,” Pawan Kalyan said.
