Andhra Pradesh

WDC poll postponed as Cong., TDP workers clash

Kakinada: A clash between workers of the Congress and the TDP resulted in the postponement of the election of chairman of the Veeravaram Water Distributory Committee (WDC) on Friday.

Some miscreants threw petrol on the ballot boxes and tried to set them on fire. Returning Officer Appalaraju suffered burns when the petrol that fell on him in the melee caught fire. He was shifted to Government General Hospital in Kakinada for treatment.

According to information reaching here, the followers of two Congress leaders, who are related to president of the Veeravaram Water Users’ Association (WUA) T. Gowri (Congress), entered the venue of the election to which their rivals in the TDP had objected. A clash ensued and the police used force to disperse the mob.

Even as the police were making efforts to control the situation under the direct supervision of the Superintendent of Police B. Sreenivasulu, some persons entered the building where the voting was to take place and threw petrol on the ballot boxes.

Meanwhile, a TDP worker reportedly complained to the SP that one of the voters for the WDC K. Ramana Murthy (president of Kattamuru WUA), who also belongs to the TDP, was kidnapped with the intention of getting the election postponed. However, Mr. Murthy came to the SP and proved the complaint false and described it as a mischief aimed at vitiating the atmosphere.

The police successfully chased away the rioting mob but the election could not be conducted in the absence of Mr. Appalaraju who was injured in the attack.

The chairman of the Veeravaram WDC, which is a part of the Yeleru project committee, was scheduled to be elected by presidents of five WUAs. They are K. Ramana Murthy (Kattamuru, TDP), B. Veerababu (Mukkollu, TDP), A. Krishna (Gollaprolu, TDP), T. Gowri (Veeravaram, Congress) and P. Suribabu (S. Timmapuram, Congress).

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