Congress, CPI lock horns over calling the shots in district

Kothagudem: The election of the Singareni Tippers and Lorry Owners Welfare Association ended up being a struggle for control of the district between the CPI and Congress.

Both parties sought to win the association election mainly because transport associations have a role in matters pertaining to coal transportation from SCCL mines and entail collecting money from tippers under various guises.

Members of the association had made plans to hold the election, which was originally scheduled for November 20. However, after a member of the association—which had been split into two factions due to disagreements inside the association—complained to the police that the election was being conducted arbitrarily by the other faction, police stepped in and called off the election.

An advocate and one of the poll supervisors, BSP state general secretary Yerra Kamesh, has accused a CPI local lawmaker and party leader of obstructing the election in an undemocratic manner by inciting members of a group inside the organisation.

He claimed that for the past eight months, the association’s leaders had been pleading with the lawmaker to assist in holding the poll, but he had ignored their plea.

Election arrangements for former MLA Podem Veeraiah were then made with the approval of the district Congress president after the association members met JB Showry, the convenor of the Congress party’s Kothagudem Assembly constituency, he claimed.

“It is against the law to obstruct a transparent election,” said Kamesh, adding that as a lawyer, he would resolve the issue in court because the CPI officials ‘wish to take advantage of the association for their own gain.’

However, leaders of the CPI insisted that they had no part in preventing the election.

According to reports, Veeraiah also criticised the CPI lawmaker for interfering in association matters. Notably, the issue was also brought to Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka’s attention by a few Congress leaders.