Hyderabad, June 16: Unrest in the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) over the ‘style of functioning’ of party supremo K Chandrasekhara Rao took a violent turn on Monday with party workers roughing up former MP and Rao’s detractor D Ravindra Naik at the Telangana Bhavan.
Naik, a tribal, lodged a police complaint against his attackers as well as the TRS chief under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. On his part, Chandrasekhara Rao reportedly alleged at a party meeting that a conspiracy was on to kill him and, thereby, put an end to the Telangana movement. His loyalists also declared that there was no question of a change in leadership.
The party leadership also did not appear concerned over the attack on Naik or the manner in which senior functionaries have been questioning it. On the contrary, party spokesman warned the rebels (five of them were expelled last night) that any attempt to attack Rao or storm the Telangana Bhavan would not be tolerated. Tension was almost palpable at the Telangana Bhavan since day break as the dissident leaders had declared last night that they would hold a meeting in the party office itself. Rao too convened the party State committee at the same place.
Ravindra Naik, who had used harsh words in crticising Rao over the past few days, arrived at the Telangana Bhavan around 11.45 a.m. He parked his car outside and walked up to the main building raising slogans in favour of Telangana and against ‘traitors’ to the cause (read Chandrasekhara Rao). Party workers asked him to calm down but he did not listen. They began mobbing him to get him out of the Telangana Bhavan when one worker lost his cool and tore Naik’s shirt and punched him several times.
Soon, others joined him and pushed Naik out of the main building. They physically dumped him in his car with the warning that he leave the place at once. Naik later went to Banjara Hills police station where he lodged a complaint against TRS leaders Karne Prabhakar and Ramamohan under the SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention Act). ‘‘All Banjaras should avenge the humiliatiation meted out to me,’’ he said and accused Rao of allotting party tickets to those who had paid him well.
‘‘I had to sell my 650 sq yards in Jubilee Hills and pay the proceeds to Rao to get the party ticket in 2004 elections,’’ he alleged.
Meanwhile, at the TRS State committee meeting, which was not attended by any of the dissidents, Chandrasekhara Rao managed to get unconditional support from those present.
Though a senior leader A Vijayarama Rao spoke of the need to introspect, he did not press for any change.
Party spokesperson G Jagadeswara Reddy said the State committee had authorised Chandrasekahra Rao to take ‘appropriate’ decisions to take the Telangana movement forward and expressed full faith in Rao’s leadership.
Late in the night, some unidentified persons set afire the TRS office in Hanamkonda, apparently in retaliation to the treatment meted out to Ravindra Naik at the party headquarters earlier in the day.
–Agencies–