Hyderabad, May 22: In yet another public display of disharmony in the Cabinet, two Ministers – Jupally Krishna Rao and D.K. Aruna – headed for a confrontation in Mahabubnagar district, but both ended up being arrested on Saturday.
The high drama began unfolding overnight in Gadwal when Mr. Rao, a Minister who has submitted his resignation letter and which has not been accepted, made it clear that he would go ahead with his padayatra. All this happened after Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy left for New Delhi. Ms. Aruna, Minister for Information, who represents Gadwal Assembly constituency, made no secret of her staunch opposition to her ministerial colleague conducting the march without formally informing her. Mr. Rao began the padayatra from Mahabubnagar on April 28 with the mission of awakening people for the cause of separate Statehood for Telangana. Before he could enter Gadwal constituency at Tummalapalli in the early hours of Saturday, police arrested Mr. Rao and took him to Pebbair. His supporters went on the rampage in Ieeja by damaging APSRTC buses and enforcing a bandh in the area.
Meanwhile, Ms. Aruna was detained at Dharur while she was on her way to obstruct Mr. Rao’s caravan. She contended that the march was politically motivated to rally together all her opponents and cause her embarrassment.
Hurdles
Mr. Rao, in turn, accused Ms. Aruna of creating hurdles for Telangana activists by joining hands with forces inimical to a separate State. His supporters accused Ms. Aruna of engineering her own arrest in order to prevent Mr. Rao from entering Gadwal. While Ms. Aruna was released on personal surety, Rao refused to apply for bail.