Unrest again in Mandya Congress unit

Mysore: Unity in Mandya district unit of the Congress touched a new low with members of rival factions nearly coming to blows at a meeting here on Friday.

Reason: only supporters of housing minister M. H. Ambareesh were invited for the meeting of leaders of district Congress committee, leaving out spokesperson T.S. Sat­ya­nanda and his camp followers. 

Only leaders from Na­ga­mangala, Sri­ra­ng­apatna, Ko­ppa and Pan­da­vapur we­re invited, but none from the sugar town of Mandya. Irked by such partisan conduct, original Congress wo­rkers shouted slogans leading to pandemonium during the meeting. Notable leaders who attended the meeting were L.R. Shi­va­r­am­eg­o­w­da and Am­ba­re­esh’s cl­ose aide Am­ar­a­vathi Ch­an­drasekhar.

Satyananda said there was no clarity about the agenda of the meeting. This is not the first time that rift within the Mandya district Congress has surfaced. Ahead of every election, faction-fights mar the campaign.

They were witnessed during last year’s elections to the Legislative Assembly as well as bypolls to Mandya Lok Sabha constituency. ­