Andhra Pradesh renames newly created Konaseema district after BR Ambedkar

Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, advisor to the government (public affairs), said the decision to rename the district was taken after careful consideration of the composition of the population and demands from local people. “The state government stands by its decision and as per that, we renamed it officially as Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema district today,’’ he said.

During the May 24 violence, protesters set fire to the houses of minister P Viswarup and ruling YSRCP MLA P Satish and damaged public property. Dozens of people were arrested over the violence.

The district was carved out of the East Godavari district in the first week of April, when the government created 13 new districts. The district headquarters, Amalapuram, is a Scheduled Caste-reserved Lok Sabha constituency. While three of the seven Assembly segments in the constituency—Razole, Gannavaram, and Amalapuram—are reserved for Scheduled Castes, the rest—Ramachandrapuram, Mummudivaram, Kothapeta and Mandapeta—are populated mostly by non-Dalit communities.

As the district has a sizeable Dalit population, Dalit groups had asked the government to rename the Konaseema after Ambedkar. On May 18, the government issued the notification proposing to rename the district .

On May 24,protesters under the aegis of the Konaseema Parirakshana Samithi, Konaseema Sadhana Samiti, Konaseema Udyama Samiti and other organisations took out a rally, which ended in violence. Police fired warning shots in the air in Amalapuram as a violent mob attacked them.