Khammam, February 17: Tension prevailed in Kothagudem on Wednesday when Congress workers attacked a former Praja Rajyam activist near the Three Town police station this afternoon.
The attack seemed to be related to the rising friction between Congress workers and Praja Rajyam activists about to join the former party.
Lakkineni Surender, a coal transport contractor from Tekulapalli and an activist who worked for the Praja Rajyam Party in the last election, was set upon with sticks moments after he emerged from a visit to a hunger strike camp set up by former minister and District Congress Committee president V Venkateswara Rao to press for a separate Telanagana state.
The assailants were said to be Congress workers who support Venkateswara Rao and his son Raghava. Seriously injured, Surender was taken to Singareni Hospital and then to Mamata Hospital in Khammam after first aid.
He was later shifted Hyderabad when his condition turned critical
Surender reportedly served as the Praja Rajyam Party’s convener for Kothagudem constituency and campaigned for PRP candidate Adavalli Krishna, a close relative and political rival of Venkateswara Rao.
Sources said another reason for the attack could have been Surender’s differences with some coal contractors from coastal Andhra in Koyagudem near Tekulapalli.
The police have registered a case of attempt to murder and unlawful assembly and instigation to violence. Police said group rivalry between a coal contractor Pratap Reddy and Surender might have led to the attack.
However, PRP district president Adavalli Krishna, speaking to Express on the phone, alleged that the attack was an act of revenge as Surender had worked for him in the Kothagudem constituency in the last election.
He demanded that Vanama Venkateswara Rao resign from his DCC post for the attack by his supporters.
He alleged that Vanama Raghava has been encouraging murder politics and rowdies in Kothagudem.
The CPI and the TRS called for bandh in Kothagudem protesting the attack. The TDP condemned the attack.
–Agencies