A meeting organized targeting Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President YS Sharmila in her home turf Kadapa by AICC member Sunkara Padmasree was disrupted by Sharmila’s followers and that led to extreme tension. This has led to an argument and a scuffle between the two groups.
The police, who rushed to the scene, brought the situation under control on Monday. Sunkara Padmasree, who has been alleging that Sharmila ruining Congress party in the state, reached Kadapa on Sunday for a two-day visit. As part of the visit, she met with some Congress leaders at the IMA Hall on Monday.
Former DCC President Gundlakunta Sriramulu, Nazir Ahmed (currently in the YSR Congress Party), SA Sattar and some other dissenting leaders participated in this meeting. It is reported that the purpose of this meeting was to discuss the performance of PCC President YS Sharmila.
However, Sharmila’s supporters, who came to know about this meeting, reached there under the leadership of DCC President Vijaya Jyoti. Constituency in-charges Irfan Basha, Ashok Reddy, Dhruva Kumar Reddy, Shivamohan Reddy, Mainuddin and others tried to stop the meeting.
They shouted slogans like “YS Sharmila Reddy Zindabad”. In response, the situation heated up further when the Padma Shri faction shouted slogans like “Rahul Gandhi’s leadership should flourish”. In this sequence, the arguments between the two groups escalated and led to a scuffle.
At one stage, the leaders even grabbed their shirts and started a fight. On receiving information, the police immediately reached the spot and dispersed both the groups and brought the situation under control. After the meeting, Sunkara Padmasree spoke to the media and made serious allegations that YS Sharmila had corrupted the Congress party.
She alleged that since taking charge as the PCC president, Sharmila has only been criticizing Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy and has not taken any steps to strengthen the party and restore its former glory. She made it clear that Sharmila’s performance is not good and that she will bring this matter to the attention of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
On the other hand, the leaders of the Sharmila faction in the Congress expressed deep anger over Padmasree’s comments against Sharmila. They alleged that Padmasree came to Kadapa with a package given by someone as per a scheme and is targeting Sharmila and criticizing her.
They said that it was against this backdrop that a serious argument took place between the two factions. This incident once again exposed the internal differences in the Kadapa district Congress.
