Hyderabad, March 03: The siege of Eluru MP Kavuri Sambasiva Rao’s Banjara Hills residence by Telangana lawyers on Wednesday led to a confrontation between Telangana and Andhra leaders of the Congress.
The lawyers, accusing Sambasiva Rao of working against the Telangana cause, marched to his residence and staged a dharna, raising slogans that they would not allow such leaders to live in Hyderabad or hold meetings. Though police detained them, the incident triggered a rash of protests, challenges and counter-challenges between leaders of the two regions.
Angry with the lawyers’ protest, Sambasiva Rao questioned whether the advocates would get Telangana if they intimidated him. There was no point in attacking his house at a time when the commitment of the Telangana leaders to the T-cause itself was doubtful, he said and sought to know if any MP from the region was ready to resign. He advised the lawyers to go to the MP whom they had elected and confront him.
JC Diwakar Reddy, whose initiative to call a meeting of Andhra and Rayalaseema leaders at the residence of Sambasiva Rao on March 5, led the lawyers to protest, stuck to his guns: “We have not said a word against Telangana. Is it wrong to express our opinion? Just because we speak on behalf of our people in Andhra and Rayalaseema areas, would they come and beat us up?” Reacting to Sambasiva Rao’s challenge, Nalgonda MP Gutta Sukhender Reddy said he was ready to resign tomorrow itself.
He wanted to know if Sambasiva Rao would reciprocate.
Karimangar MP Ponnam Prabhakar echoed the same views. TRS leader T Harish Rao, tongue-in-cheek, thanked Sambasiva Rao for explaining how useless Congress MPs from Telangana were.
Sambasiva Rao appeared rattled by the belligerent postures of the T leaders. “It is they who have been saying all this. We never said anything intimidating,” he said, obviously referring to T Congress MLA Damodar Reddy who had said Andhra leaders should take responsibility if Andhras were hit in Hyderabad.
–Agencies