Radha’s Men Beat up Ranga’s Loyalists

Vijayawada: The city boiled once again on Friday, after more than two decades, as MLA Vangaveeti Radhakrishna’s men beat up the Congress leaders and followers of slain Congress MLA, Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga Rao, on his death anniversary.

Radhakrishna’s men chased the Congress leaders, including senior Congress leader and Ranga’s loyalist Malladi Vishnu. They also beat up the supporters of Vishnu and hurled soda bottles at them injuring one person. The melee had spread to the busy Besant Road, where the traders have downed the shutters fearing riot. The Governorpet area is in tension now as the police arrested Congress leaders, include Vishnu, the party floor leader in Municipal Corporation, Kunuku Raja Sekhar and a few others.

Radhakrishna, a Congress MLA from Vijayawada East, switched over his loyalties to the Praja Rajyam Party last week and challenged the Congress men to observe his father’s death anniversary. The angry young MLA garlanded the statue of Ranga on M G Road and went on to Krishna Lanka area to participate in several prorgammes organized on the occasion.

A few minutes later Vishnu, senior Congress leaders, Kolanukonda Sivaji, Adapa Nagendra and Badita Shankar, reached the venue and garlanded the statue. They also tied the Congress’ tricolour cloth around Ranga.

Ranga’s widow and former MLA, Rathna Kumari, who was watching the Congress men garlanding her husband’s statue alerted her son, Radhakrishna, who rushed to the spot along with his supporters. Both Rathnakumari and Radhakrishna removed the Congress cloth and chased the Congressmen. The angry PRP workers also hurled sticks at the vehicles of the Congress leaders as both Radhakrishna and Rathnakumari hurled abuses at the Congress leaders.

The Radhakrishna’s supporters chased the Congress workers in the lanes of Besant Road hurling soda bottles. In the melee, a Youth Congress worker, Koppisetti Durga Rao, received bleeding injuries.

Recovering from the shock, the Congress leaders held a protest at Besant Road, who were immediately removed by the police. The police provided security in the entire Governorpet area to prevent untoward incidents.

The irony is that it was Malladi Vishnu who installed the bronze statue of Ranga, when Rathnakumari and Radhakrishna did not take interest in that. In fact, Vishnu had been rallying a good number of Ranga’s followers and had saved several of Ranga’s loyalists from the TD’s onslaught in 1990s.