Power tariff hike: Congress(I) dharna turns violent

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, JUNE 9. The Statewide dharna programme, called by the Congress(I) to protest against hike in power tariff on Friday, turned violent in Karimnagar and Anantapur districts with the police resorting to a lathicharge to disperse the defiant party activists.

In Khammam district partymen indulged in fisticuffs and several of them were injured. Several Congress leaders and workers courted arrest as they barged into the electricity offices or the collectorates as part of the phased agitation demanding rollback of the power rates.

The APCC(I) president, Mr. M. Satyanarayana Rao, who participated in the dharna in front of the Rangareddy district collectorate, said the agitation would continue till the complete rollback of the power tariff.

Briefing presspersons later at Gandhi Bhavan, Mr. Rao said the future course of action would be discussed and finalised at a meeting of all available senior leaders here on Saturday. The tempo of the agitation would be sustained and there would be no compromise on the main demand- restoration of the old power tariff in respect of all categories of consumers. The agitation was peaceful till now but the Chief Minister should be wary of the consequences of not honouring the public opinion, which was against the hike, he said.

The leader of Congress(I) Legislature Party (CLP), Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, participating in the protest programme in front of the Collectorate at Cuddapah, came down heavily on the Government.

The former PCC(I) president, Mr. V. Hanumantha Rao, the former CLP leader, Mr. P. Janardhan Reddy, and the Asifnagar MLA, Mr. D. Nagender, along with a group of Congress(I) workers, including women, staged a dharna in front of the Hyderabad Collectorate. After addressing the gathering, they gatecrashed into the office but the police intercepted and took them into custody. They were bundled into a waiting van. Some crowd spilled onto the Nampally station road and burnt the effigy of the Chief Minister.A bandh was observed at Ongole while the demonstrating party activists were lathicharged at Anantapur, resulting in serious injuries to one woman activist, Shakuntala.

The PCC(I) president said the dharna, barring stray incidents, was peaceful and the police cooperated ``as they are also sympathetic to the cause.'' He said the party would not hesitate to launch a ``jail bharo'' programme and that the agitation would percolate to mandals and villages. ``We are prepared to get arrested and fill in the jails''.In Kurnool party leaders had decided to stage black flag demonstrations till the hike is withdrawn. In Vijayawada, former Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. K. Ranga Rao, and former MP, Mr. K. S. Rao, were arrested even before the dharna began and they staged a protest demonstration in the police station.

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Section  : Southern States
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