21 February,2009 04:11 PM IST | | Agencies
Political activists demanding early classification of Scheduled castes went on a rampage in Andhra Pradesh today and attacked houses of two ministers and some MLAs.
The activists of Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti (MRPS) are demanding that the Centre immediately table a bill for classification of Scheduled Castes in the state.
MRPS men attacked the residence of State Transport Minister Kanna Laxminarayana in Guntur and Excise Minister Jakkampudi Ramamohan Rao in Rajahmundry, police sources said, adding no damage was reported in these two incidents.
Besides, they also vandalised the office of sub-registrar in Secunderabad, the houses of Kaavali MLA Magunta Parvatamma in Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore district, Nagaram MLA P Rajeswari Devi and Kakinada MLA M Gopala Krishna in East Godavari district.
In another incident in East Godavari, MRPS workers detained Rajolu MLA Krishnam Raju after attacking his house. In Tirupati, they reportedly tried to attack the residence of local P Chinta Mohan, but police thwarted their attempt.u00a0
Madigas, a sect of SCs in Andhra Pradesh, have been on a warpath for some time now demanding they be classified into A,B,C,D groups for the purpose of reservations.
With the Supreme Court striking down the classification done by the previous TDP government, a constitutional amendment is required for re-classification.
The MRPS workers have been staging violent protests and frequently threaten self-immolation and off late even attempted to jump from the Assembly building.
Last week, they attacked the residence of Siddipet MP Sarve Satyanarayana here and the house of former minister M Mareppa in Kurnool.
Yesterday, they attacked the Secunderabad zone office of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
In all these cases there has been no ostensible police action against the MRPS men.
Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) A K Khan said they were now stepping up vigil across the state to contain the MRPS agitation. "We are gathering intelligence to prevent such attacks," he said, adding cases would be registered against MRPS workers who went on a rampage and necessary legal action would be initiated.
