Tension prevails in Tadepalli

Vijayawada: Tense situation prevailed in Tadepalli of Guntur district when Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Y S Sharmila and other Congress leaders were arrested on Thursday while they were heading towards AP secretariat. Scuffles took place between the police and Congress workers when they tried to detain Sharmila and other Congress leaders. Sharmila and other leaders were taken to the police station in Mangalagiri.

The APCC has given a call for Chalo Secretariat demanding the government to issue notification for Mega DSC to fill 23,000 teacher posts. She strongly condemned the police action in Tadepalli and alleged autocratic rule in Andhra Pradesh. She said there is no democracy in the state under YSRCP rule.

The APCC chief alleged that YSRCP government had failed to fulfil the pre poll promise of filling 23,000 teachers posts after it came to power and recently issued notification to fill only 6000 teachers posts.

She reached the APCC office on Wednesday night and slept at the office. She along with other Congress leaders CWC special invitee Gidugu Rudra Raju, former MP J D Seelam, AP Congress working presidents Mastan Vali and Sunkara Padmasri and other leaders staged a protest at Andhra Ratna Bhavan for more than an hour.

Several hundred police personnel were posted near Andhra Ratna Bhavan since morning to prevent any untoward incident. The police imposed restrictions on the Congress party office road from morning to afternoon.

Later, she headed towards the Secretariat to lay siege to the Secretariat with Congress party workers. When they reached Tadepalli, police arrested Sharmila and other leaders and shifted them to police station in Mangalagiri.

Before that at Andhra Ratna Bhavan, the Congress party office, was rocked by slogans of Congress workers ‘down down Jagan’, and ‘Congress Party Zindabad’. After a gap of 10 years, the Congress party office witnessed slogans ‘Congress Zindabad’ as several hundred activists and leaders gathered at the party office. The police erected barricades on the Congress office road since morning and prevented a large number of Congressmen from reaching the Congress party office. Meanwhile, police said they have arrested around 40 Cong activists for staging a road roko and raising slogans as part of a planned protest walk to the Secretariat. The police said they had arrested around 40 Congress activists for obstructing traffic and raising slogans on Eluru road.