Protocol row: Tension prevails as supporters of Premsagar Rao, Vamsi Krishna lock horns in Telangana’s Mancherial

The Peddapalli MP was reportedly ignored during the recent inaugural ceremony of Saraswati Pushkaralu held at Kaleshwaram in Prof Jayashankar Bhupalpally district

Mancherial: Mild tension prevailed when supporters of local MLA Kokkirala Premsagar Rao prevented supporters of Peddapalli MP G Vamsi Krishna from submitting a representation to the Dr BR Ambedkar statue demanding action against officials for failing to follow protocol in official events here on Wednesday.

A large number of supporters of Vamsi Krishna from Chennur, Bellampalli and Mandamarri towns reached the Ambedkar statue in IB Chowk to ‘submit’ a representation to the statue seeking action against the officials. They alleged that the MP was ignored during the recent inaugural ceremony of Saraswati Pushkaralu held at Kaleshwaram in Prof Jayashankar Bhupalpally district.

On learning about this, supporters of Premsagar Rao reached the spot and stopped them from submitting the representation, resulting in mild tension. Police rushed to the place and dispersed both groups. Armed policemen were deployed at the junction to prevent further clashes.

It is learnt that Premsagar Rao, Chennur MLA Vivek and Bellampalli legislator Vinod were vying for a berth in the State Cabinet, which is expected to be expanded soon. They are leaving no stone unturned to get a minister post using their proximity to the party leadership. This has led to internal bickering between Premsagar Rao and the MP, who is the son of Vivek.

On November 21, neither Vamshi Krishna, nor MLAs Dr G Vivek and Vinod were invited to a programme attended by ministers Damodara Rajanarasimha, D Sridhar Babu and D Anasuya who laid the foundation stone for a super specialty hospital in Mancherial district headquarters, exposing internal bickering among Congress legislators.