Andhra Pradesh minister attacked with stones, eggs

The textiles minister was assaulted by the followers of the home minister for visiting a controversial piece of land allegedly grabbed by the home minister’s prodigal son Karthik Reddy.

Shankar Rao escaped unhurt but the window panes of his car were damaged in the attack by a group of people who raised slogans terming him a “land grabber”.

The police intervened to prevent the situation from going out of control. The attack took place when the textiles minister was visiting a piece of land, which is said to be the bone of contention between the home minister’s son and another person.

The police ensured that the textiles minister was safely sent away but no arrests were made yet. Shankar Rao had earned the wrath of his cabinet colleagues ever since he had charged all the ministers of the YSR cabinet as corrupt.

Rao has been attacking Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and also skiping the cabinet meetings. The chief minister had often said that he was tolerating Shankar Rao due to the pressure from the Centre.

The row between the two ministers relates to a petition filed by Shankar Rao in the High Court in October this year demanding a probe into allegations of corruption against Sabita Indra Reddy and Excise Minister Mopidevi Venkataramana. The court, however, dismissed his petition.

Blaming the home minister and her son for the attack, Shankar Rao later told reporters a group of 500 people attacked him in a pre-planned manner. He alleged that the police did not take action against those involved in the attack.

Shankar Rao has asked the chief minister to dismiss Sabita Indra Reddy from the cabinet. He has demanded a probe by the CBI into the assets of the home minister and said he would complain about the attack to the party high-command.