Hyderabad: Ugly scenes and a clash marred a Medak bypoll campaign of the Congress in Dubbaka on Monday, at a time when the party is struggling to keep its flock together.
Party workers owing allegiance to different leaders clashed over a trivial issue in front of the Telangana state Congress leaders.
Dubbaka Assembly former legislator Cheruku Mutyam Reddy and sitting Congress MLC Farooq Hussain have differences and are engaged in a game of one upmanship in the region.
On Monday, there was a meeting of party workers, which was attended by both factions. When TPCC president Ponnala Lakshm-aiah and the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly K. Jana Reddy went to address the workers meeting in connection with the bypoll campaign, Mr Mut-yam Reddy’s followers put up banners welco-ming the leaders, whi-ch did not have the photograph of Mr Hussain.
An angry MLC, Mr Hussain, entered into an argument with Mr Mutyam Reddy and they had a heated exch-ange. Provoked by this, followers of both the leaders also got into an argument, raised sloga-ns and came to blows.
Mr Jana Reddy asked Farooq Hussain to keep quiet and cooperate so that the meeting could be held peacefully. At this stage, Mr Hussain was upset with Mr Jana Reddy’s remarks and started arguing. For 20 minutes there was utter commotion with followers of Mr Mutyam Reddy and Mr Hussain clashing.
Finally, police entered the meeting hall and whisked away the trouble makers.
Later, Mr Lakshm-aiah and Mr Jana Re-ddy asked the local leaders not to put up banners for local leaders and keep only one flexi with that of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s photographs.
