CHITTOOR:Tension prevailed for a while at SC and ST Empowerment Meeting following a verbal duel between some YSRC MLAs and other leaders on the one hand and the ruling TDP leaders on the other hand.
However, calm was restored and the meeting proceeded peacefully after the intervention of police.
Trouble started when the YSRC MLA Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy from Chandragiri openly criticized Social Welfare minister Ravela Kishore Babu and Chittoor district collector Siddharth Jain for allegedly working against the interests of the SCs and STs in the district.
He accused Jain of working as an agent of the TDP and ignoring the representations submitted by his party leaders. Other YSRC MLAs N Narayana Swamy and M Sunil Kumar echoed Reddy’s views. Kishore Babu then tried to calm tempers by assuring the YSRC MLAs that action would be taken against any person or officer working against the interests of the SCs and the STs in the district.
He also said that the meeting was aimed at the development of the downtrodden communities and not a publicity gimmick. “I am confident that this meeting will surely work out steps to address all their pending problems.”
However, his speech was interrupted by a section of the YSRC leaders. With the TDP leaders jumping into the fray, heated arguments erupted between the two sides, warranting police intervention to prevent the verbal duel from turning into a physical clash between the two sides.
TDP MLAs D Satyaprabha (from Chittoor) and T Aditya (from Satyaved) and representatives of SC, ST associations were also present at the meeting.
