By IANS,
Hyderabad : A meeting convened by the Congress party in Andhra Pradesh to condole the death of late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ended in utter chaos here Sunday as supporters of his son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy created a ruckus, demanding that he be made the next chief minister.
Security personnel escorted Acting Chief Minister K. Rosaiah, state Congress chief D. Srinivas, union minister Jaipal Reddy and other senior leaders to safety as Jagan’s supporters tried to mob them at the meeting held at Gandhi Bhavan, the party headquarters.
Holding placards and pictures of YSR and Jagan, the party activists did not allow Srinivas to speak, forcing him to conclude the meeting in a hurry.
The trouble started soon after a condolence motion was moved and Srinivas rose to speak. slogans of ‘DS down down’ disrupted his speech. When all the appeals to restore order fell on deaf ears, the party chief announced that the meeting is over.
Visibly upset over the turn of events, Rosaiah and other leaders left the meeting hall.
Later, YSR’s long-time friend and Rajya Sabha member K.V.P. Ramchandra Rao entered the hall and made an emotional appeal to Jagan’s supporters to remain calm. He broke down while recalling his association with the late leader.
“If you want his soul to rest in peace, please be calm,” he appealed with folded hands.
He told them that Congress president Sonia Gandhi would hear their voice while taking a decision.
Though order was restored for some time, the meeting did not resume as all the leaders had left the party headquarters.
Srinivas, Jaipal Reddy and Rosaiah are being seen as contenders for the chief minister’s post.
YSR, his special secretary, chief security officer and two pilots were killed when the helicopter carrying them from Hyderabad to Chittoor crashed in bad weather in Nallamalla forests in Kurnool district Wednesday morning. The charred bodies and the wreckage of the chopper were found the next day after one of the biggest search operations by Indian Air Force helicopters.