HYDERABAD: Two Congress MPs and four legislators in Andhra Pradesh have resigned expressing “displeasure” over the state government’s handling of the abduction of a party legislator by the” banned People’s War Group (PWG).
Reports received here from Visakhapatnam district said the MPs, Dronamraju Satyanarayana and ,.Ramakrishna, had faxed their resignations to the party president and the Prime Minister, P.V.Narasimha Rao, while the legislators, E.Vijayalakshmi, Balaraju, B.Satya Rao and R.S.Knshnamurthy Raju had sent their resignations to the chief minister, Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy.
The PWG had threatened to kill the hostages if its demands were not met by 6:45 a.m. Feb.3. The MPs and legislators, appealing to the Naxalites to release the hostages, went on a indefinite fast as Narasipatnam town, which remained tense following the expiry of the deadline.
These Congressmen had complained that the government was ignoring the interest and safety of party workers and was being guided only by bureaucrats and police officers. They had also tried to lobby with Union minister of state for home, Rajesh Pilot, through Dr.Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy, MP. Meanwhile, the state government has rushed a senior IAS official, C.Arjun Rao, to Visakhapatnam to handle the problem. Rao had been posted in Visakhapatnam some years ago,
The state government’s earlier Offer that the kidnappers would be allowed to go unharmed if they released the hostages was reiterated by state director-general of police, T,.S.Rao.
Meanwhile, the imprisoned PWG ¢astern division secretary, Kranthidey, whose release the PWG has been demanding, reiterated his intention to “dissociate himself from the movement.”
A report from Visakhapatnam said the PWG had put forth a fresh demand for withdrawal of all police and paramilitary forces from Koyyuru within the next 24, hours. Political circles are questioning the government’s claim that the abductors would not harm the tribal MLA lest they offend the local people. They are also feeling uneasy over the belligerent statements of an inspector general of police, Subba Reddy, who is supervising operators in Narsipatnam where the abduction took place. The government has said that the abductors would be let off if they free the hostages. But Subba Reddy has threatened to finish off the abductors if they harm the hostages. He had also talked of helicopters being kept ready. The fear is that such belligerent talk by the police may provoke the abductors into some desperate action.
Political circles have also observed that the Naxalites did not name any fresh persons to be ex~ changed when the government announced that a mala Kranthidey, one of the prisoners named earlier was not in custody. Also the Naxalites have rejected the government’s claim that Kranthidey did not want to be freed as he wanted to go straight.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 12, 1993
