VIJAYAWADA: A woman TDP activist from Sattupalli town threatened to commit suicide by consuming pesticide alleging that she was being harassed. She said she was asked to pay money to Kodela Siva Ramakrishna, son of Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, for getting permission from the Sattenapalli mandal revenue officer (MRO) to set up a firecracker stall in the town ahead of the Diwali festival.
In a video clip that went viral on social media, Yellinedi Lakshmi Tulasi (daughter-in-law of Sattenapalli municipal chairman Yellinedi Ramaswamy), was seen holding a bottle of pesticide. In the clip, Tulasi, a member of the TDP’s women wing, alleged that MRO Venu Gopal refused to grant her permission for establishing a cracker stall and held Siva Ramakrishna responsible for the same.
She said the MRO refused her permission for setting up a cracker stall despite obtaining all necessary permissions from other concerned departments. “When he (the MRO) was asked about the reason for the denial, he told that Siva Ramakrishna had instructed him not to issue permission until we paid him. He demands money from us for the works we do,” Tulasi alleged.
“My father-in-law Ramaswamy works for the TDP and also is the municipal chairman of Sattenapalli. Even after this, Siva Ramakrishna never stopped taking money from us. He forces us to spend money on party-related events. We have lost more than `30 lakh,” she rued.However, no case was filed. “We have not received any complaint in this regard. If a complaint is lodged, we will start investigation and take necessary action,” Sattenapallli Circle Inspector Sarath Babu said.
Siva Ramkrishna could not be reached for comments.