Minister assures action against Youth Cong leader on Tirumala issue

Hyderabad, July 19 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Home Minister K Jana Reddy today assured the Legislative Council that stringent action would be taken against the Youth Congress leader, who took out a procession in the sacred Tirumala hills, while his followers burst crackers.

Making a statement in the Council, the Minister said P Venkatesh, President of the Chittoor district Youth Congress, along with his followers went to Tirumala hills in a cavalcade of eight cars.

Around 50 Youth Congress activists welcomed him and his rally at the foothills. They also burst crackers and held a meeting at the TTD community hall, which was against the rules.

Mr Reddy said that though Security Officer Sivananda Kishore informed the activists that bursting crackers and taking out processions were against the rules of the sacred hills, they did not bother. Police, who arrived on the scene later, arrested the leader and some of his followers. The police were on the look out for others who participated in the procession.

The Minister said the arrested Youth Congress leader and his followers were today produced in the Second Additional Metropolitan Magistrate court and remanded to judicial custody.

When Mr Palle Raghunatha Reddy of the Congress repeatedly said bursting crackers and holding political meetings were against the rules of the TTD, another Congress member said Nagam Janardhana Reddy, a minister in the previous TDP Government, too had violated all rules when his party was in power.

Later, the minister said that during the erstwhile TDP regime, a minister's son and son-in-law had created a similar scene in 2002 and the then government had booked cases against them and the accused also paid fines in 2006.

UNI