Ex-MLA's followers ransack TD office in Srikakulam

Visakhapatnam: Former MLA and senior TD leader Gunda Lakshmi Devi and her followers ransacked the party office in Srikakulam on Friday after the party president N. Chandrababu Naidu announced the name of Gondu Shankar as the candidate for the Srikakulam assembly constituency.

Soon after the announcement of Sankar’s name for the Srikakulam constituency, a furious Lakshmi and her followers attacked the party's office. They smashed the portrait of Chandrababu Naidu and trampled it under their shoes. They also tore party flags, manifesto copies and pamphlets to express their anger. Later they set on fire pamphlets and party flags.

“After talking to the party cadre I will take a decision on to contest as an independent or not,’’ Lakshmi Devi told the reporters.

Lakshmi Devi is wife of Gunda Appalasuryanarayana, who had won four times as MLA from Srikakulam constituency from 1985 to 2004 and served as a minister for two terms. Lakshmi, following her husband’s footsteps, began her career as a councilor and later became vice-chairperson of the Srikakulam municipality.

She contested the 2014 assembly elections as a TD candidate and defeated Dharmana Prasada Rao. She lost to Prasada Rao in the 2019 elections. Expecting the party ticket, she already began her campaign for the ensuing elections. However, allotment of Srikakulam ticket to Sankar has come as a big shocker to her.