Tension prevailed in Tangutur of Prakasam district for some time as rival groups of the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) came to blows with each other on Sunday.
Supporters of YSRCP Kondepi Assembly in-charge Varikoti Ashok Babu and Prakasam District Central Cooperative Bank Chairman M. Venkaiah reportedly jostled with each other after a wordy duel. In the melee, a follower of Dr. Venkaiah was injured and was rushed to a hospital here for treatment. Police intervened and brought the situation under control.
Sources said trouble erupted after followers of Mr. Ashok Babu gathered at a tea stall near the toll plaza on the Chennai-Kolkata highway on coming to know that Dr. Venkaiah and his followers had assembled there, police said.
Both the YSRCP leaders are at loggerheads after the party high command replaced Dr. Venkaiah with Mr. Ashok Babu as the party in-charge recently. Supporters of Dr. Venkaiah had boycotted the ‘Gadapa Gadapaku Mana Prabhutvam’ programme undertaken by Mr. Ashok Babu at Mittapalem village recently, leading to angry exchanges between the members of the two groups. and intervention by the police to restore law and order.
The YSRCP had suffered because of groupism as Dr. Venkaiah narrowly lost to Dr. Swamy by over 800 votes in 2019. Dr. Venkaiah, a laproscopic surgeon, had joined the ruling party ahead of the 2019 Assembly elections and bagged the party ticket to contest from Kondepi Assembly constituency, much to Mr. Ashok Babu’s chagrin, as he had been taking care of the party affairs in the constituency reserved for Scheduled Castes after noted Dalit leader Jupudi Prabhakar switched over to the TDP following his defeat by TDP nominee Dola Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy in the 2014 Assembly elections. However, the latter had rejoined the party after the YSRCP stormed to power in 2019.
