GUNTUR: Tension prevailed in Guntur on Thursday night due to forceful stopping of YSR Congress leaders, including legislators in the district party office, from taking out a candlelight rally seeking Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh. Mangalagiri YSRC MLA A. Ramakrishna Reddy, Macharla legislator P. Ramakrishna Reddy, Bapatla MLA K. Raghu-pathi, MLC Ummareddy Venkateswarlu, YSRC district president M. Rajasekhar and other leaders came to the district party office with their followers to conduct the candlelight rally. The legislators were busy discussing about the programme when suddenly police, led by ASP J. Bhaskar Rao and DSP K.G.V. Saritha, rushed to the building.

The police directed YSRC leaders to refrain from taking out the rally saying it would lead to law and order problem in the city but the MLAs said they would organise it in a peaceful manner. The police failed to heed to their appeal and tried to arrest the leaders. Women activists, in a large number, gheraoed the police and stopped police for sometime. YSRC leaders and activists raised slogans against the police and squatted in front of the gate. The police forcibly removed them from the place and took the party legislators and leaders away from the office. High drama prevailed as the legislators and leaders refused to be shifted to the police station.


The legislators lit the candles on the road in front of their party office and protested against the arrest of their leaders. Ramakrishna Reddy, Venkateswarlu and others said they were demanding the right of AP and lamented that the TD government was muffling their voice with police force. They alleged that police behaved rudely with the YSRC women leaders and activists. However, the police forcefully shifted the legislators and leaders from the party office. Earlier, the police tried to put Mangalagiri MLA Ramakrishna Reddy under house arrest but he he reached the party office giving slip to police.