VIJAYAWADA: Activists of the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) tried to surge towards the venue of ‘Kurukshetra Mahasabha’ at the Bible Mission Grounds opposite Acharya Nagarjuna University in Guntur district on Friday, notwithstanding the police restrictions against the public meeting. Tension prevailed at the place.
MRPS founder-president Manda Krishna Madiga gave a call for ‘Kurukshetra Mahasabha’ to press for categorisation of Scheduled Castes (SCs). However, citing law and order problem, the Guntur Urban police denied permission for the meeting and also pointed out that Mala Mahanadu also sought permission for holding a public meeting at the same ground on the same day. The police also denied permission for Mala Mahanadu meeting.
As the MRPS activists planned to make the meeting a success by attending it in large numbers, a huge police force was deployed at the venue to prevent them.
Coming down heavily on the State government for imposing curbs on the MRPS meeting, Krishna Madiga sought to know why Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu denied them permission in the same grounds where he himself organised his swearing-in ceremony and many other public events. Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan also organised a meeting at the same ground. The YSRC is also going to organise its plenary there.
Alleging that the Chief Minister cheated Madigas after coming to power, the MRPS founder said the community played a crucial role in TDP victory in the Assembly elections. But Naidu who promised SC categorisation, has virtually done nothing in this regard even three years after coming to power. Instead, the CM appointed Jupudi Prabhakara Rao and Karem Sivaji, Mala Mahanadu leaders as chairmen of SC Corporation and SC, ST Commission. It was a known fact that both the Mala Mahanadu leaders criticised the TDP chief before the party coming to power in the State, Krishna Madiga said.
The police deployed on the road leading towards the venue at ANU, prevented hundreds of MRPS activists at Kaza Toll Plaza, which resulted in traffic jam on National Highway 16. Denouncing denial of permission, the MRPS activists organised a rasta roko.Though the MRPS activists from East and West Godavari and other districts of AP as well as from Telangana tried to attend ‘Kurukshetra Mahasabha’, the police stopped them at various parts of the State and sent them back. Vehicular traffic was disturbed on Pondugala bridge, bordering Telangana with hundreds of MRPS activists squatting on the bridge in protest.
Sensing that the MRPS activists might storm into the Interim Government Complex in Velagapudi, the police tightened security on all the roads leading to the State Secretariat.
The MRPS activists reportedly set a lorry of police department on fire at Kantheru road. Fire tenders rushed to the spot and extinguished the flames.