Congress leaders spar for chair on protest dais

Hyderabad: An ugly quarrel broke out on a public stage between Congress former MP V. Hanumantha Rao and party leader G. Nagesh, overshadowing the Opposition parties’ protest near Indira Park against the Intermediate marks fiasco.

The dharna was being held to press the Opposition demand for a judicial probe into the fiasco, the sacking of education minister from the Cabinet and to urge the government to compensate the families of students who committed suicide.

Opposition leaders present at the event were taken aback by the sparing and attempted to pacify the two leaders. It started when Mr Nagesh offered Mr Hanumantha Rao’s chair to AICC in-charge R.C. Khuntia while he was addressing the gathering. This irked Mr Hanumantha Rao and sparked an altercation between the two. Mr Hanumantha Rao pushed Mr Nagesh, and the Congress leader pulled him down with him. Soon, it escalated to a full-fledged fist fight.

Telangana Jana Samithi founder Prof. M. Kodandaram and TS TD president L. Rama-na were present on the dias. Some leaders suggested that the two leaders should take their fight to the Gandhi Bhavan.

Mr Hanumantha Rao termed the issue as a trivial matter and requested the participants at the dharna to leave it for them to resolve.  

Congress sources said that the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) has reported the incident to the party’s disciplinary committee. They claimed that the PCC had decided to expel Mr Nagesh from the city unit of the party and seek an explanation from Mr Hanumantha Rao.