Minister's house set on fire as violence erupts over renaming district

Dozens of people including police personnel were injured as violence broke out in Andhra Pradeshs Amalapuram town on May 24 during the protest by a group against the governments move to rename Konaseema district as Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema districtProtesters opposing the proposal to rename the district also attacked the residence of state minister P Viswaroop torched few vehicles and resorted to stone pelting triggering tension in the town A mob set a couple of vehicles afire at the ministers house and also ransacked the officeThe ministers family members escaped unhurt as the police had shifted them to a safe place Hundreds of youth participated in the protest called by Konaseema Sadhana Samithi KSSRaising slogans against the governments decision they gathered at the Clock Tower As police moved to detain the protesters some of them ran towards the collectors office Police chased and arrested some of them As they were being taken in police vehicles others pelted stones damaging window panes The mob set afire a police vehicle and a private busHowever there was no one in the vehicles The youth also pelted stones on police near Amalapuram Area Hospital Superintendent of Police KSSV Subba Reddy escaped in the stone pelting but some police personnel were injured Police resorted to baton charge to control the situation Home Minister T Anita condemned the violence She said antisocial elements were leading the protestersShe said it was unfortunate that the decision to name the district after the father of the Indian Constitution Dr Ambedkar was opposed The home minister claimed that the decision was taken at the request of the people The Konaseema district was carved out from East Godavari with Amalapuram as its headquartersIt was one of the 13 districts created on April 4 taking the total number of districts in the state to 26 The government had named some of the districts after prominent personalities like freedom fighter Alluri Sitarama Raju former chief minister and TDP founder Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao who was popular as NTRSimilarly two new districts were named after saint composer Tallapaka Annamacharya Annamayya and Satya Sai Baba Sri Satya Sai The YSR Congress Party YSRCP government headed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had come under criticism from Dalit groups and others for not naming a district after AmbedkarThe state government on May 18 issued a notification inviting objections and suggestions on the proposal to rename the Konaseema district after Dr Ambedkar It sought suggestions and objections from the people residing within KonaseemaPeople have been urged to send objections and suggestions if any to Konaseema district collector within 30 days However opposing the proposal KSS had called for protests The police had imposed prohibitory orders in the town in view of the protest callThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever