Purandeswari will bury Cong.: MLA

Avanthi accuses her of 'vindictive', 'unilateral' attitude Visakhapatnam: Politics in Visakhapatnam Congress are hotting up. The political heat is hitting all Congressmen in the district with Congress MLA from Bhimunipatnam Assembly segment Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, popularly known as Avanthi Srinivas, hitting out at Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Dr D Purandeswari accusing her of adopting 'vindictive' and 'unilateral' attitude besides 'nepotism'. When HMTV and The Hans India asked the MLA about the reported differences between him and Dr Purandeswari with regard to the inauguration of a road in the Bhimunipatnam Assembly segment and the recent conduct of Congress workers' meet in the segment without his knowledge, Mr Avanthi Srinivas, who came to the airport to receive Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Sunday, said, "She doesn't like party MLAs and never takes them into confidence. Dr Purandeswari came to Congress only to ruin and bury it. Her ideology is to harass Congress MLAs physically and mentally." Asked whether she was targeting only the MLAs of the erstwhile Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) to which he belonged, the MLA replied that there was no such difference and all MLAs were being ill-treated. The visibly shaken MLA said Dr Purandeswari was always acting as a TDP representative and admitted that she was never available not only for people but also to the MLAs in the Lok Sabha segment. "In the Visakha East Assembly segment, which is being represented by the Telugu Desam, the Union Minister never steps into it and never harasses the MLA. Further, she never takes steps to strengthen the party in that Assembly segment, supporting the TD indirectly," he said adding that he would complain about this to the Chief Minister. Minister for Ports and Investments Ganta Srinivasa Rao, who was also present at the airport, when asked about the widening rift between him and Dr Purandeswari, replied: "The Union Minister has already replied 10 times and I too answered 10 times so far and there are no differences between us." He clarified that the proposed inauguration of a road in Bhimili segment was put off due to Chief Minister's visit. Regarding the MLA's sensational remarks, he said he would discuss this later. When asked for his reaction on the comments of another party MLA Tynala Vijay Kumar, he quipped: "Whenever we have a problem, we shall have to convey the same to our party elders." Among others, Dr Purandeswari, Mr Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Government Whip Dronamraju Srinivas, MLAs Panchakarla Rameshbabu, Avanthi Srinivas, Chintalapudi Venkatramaiah, UV Ramanamurty Raju (Kannababu) and a large number of party leaders received the Chief Minister. Later, the Chief Minister, along with Union Ministers Y Kishorechandra Deo and Jairam Ramesh, State Ministers Jana Reddy, Dharmana Prasada Rao and Ganta Srinivasa Rao left for Chintapalli in the Visakha Agency in two helicopters.