VIJAYAWADA: Miscreants reported to be YSRC activists tried to attack Allagadda MLA Bhuma Akhila Priya on Thursday evening when she was on her way to the secretariat.
The incident happened at Mandadam village near Velagapudi after YSRC chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy had passed that way as part of his visit to Amravati villages. At the time of the incident, Akhila Priya was travelling in her car along with her gunman and driver.
Akhila Priya said she was going to the secretariat on work after meeting TDP national general secretary N Lokesh when the incident happened. “The car had to come to a sudden halt as there was a crowd on on the road. A circle inspector on duty saw us and said the way was blocked as a rally was going on. By that time some people in the crowd saw me and before we realised what was happening, several youths gathered around the car and started pounding the windshields as if to break the glass, while shouting loudly. They were not chanting any slogans as such,” she explained.
The legislator said the situation was such that they could not reverse the vehicle, but her gunman along with the Inspector managed to make way and the car could reverse. She went to the Secretariat by a different route. She said she saw people driving their bikes haphazardly shouting loudly, carrying YSRC flags on their motorcycles.
“Later, I was informed by my driver that those who mobbed our vehicle were in an inebriated state,” she said.
Though she spoke to Guntur SP regarding the incident and lamented the lack of enough police personnel to deter the wayward mob, she said she had not given any complaint in writing yet.
Meanwhile, her father Bhuma Nagi Reddy, also an MLA from Kurnool district, condemned the incident and demanded that YSRC chief Jaganmohan Reddy should also condemn it. “His lack of reaction shows his character. We do politics in dignified manner. If we too follow his way, could he or his party move in my area? He should understand and restrain his cadre from resorting to such mischief,” he said.
He did not rule out lodging a formal complaint with the police.
When contacted by Express, Thullur circle inspector Sudhakar said there was no attack, but a crowd at Mandadam, a couple of kilometres from Velagapudi had gheraoed the car in which the legislator was travelling. He said police managed to make way for her to move away from the place. He said no complaint was lodged with his police station.
On the other hand, Minister for Water Resources Devineni Umamaheswara Rao condemning the incident, criticised YS Jaganmohan Reddy for lacking control over his cadre. Describing the attack on the women legislator as an irresponsible act, he said police should take stern measures to ensure such incidents do not recur.