HYDERABAD, Nov 21: In Rayalaseema, political battles are fought with bullets and bombs, and not through campaigns and polls. This backward region had been beyond the consciousness of Hyderabad, and the blasts and murders there routine news reports. Not any longer. Yesterday's blast just reiterated that the warlords of `Bombulaseema' have brought to Hyderabad the culture of violence along with their political aspirations.It was a Telugu Desham politician from Rayalaseema, P Siva Reddy, who first gave Hyderabad a taste of the politics of violence in 1986. Reddy, then labour minister in the N T Rama Rao Cabinet, was arrested after he hurled bombs in the old city during the 1986 municipal elections.Reddy was murdered in the city by rivals from his native Cuddapah district three years ago. Reddy typified the Rayalaseema politician - one of the charges against him was that he chopped off the hands of the rival candidate's polling agent.TDP's former minister Paritala Ravi, who was hurt in yesterday's blast, belongs to the same school of politics. And he had taken over the mantle from his father, Sriramulu, who had Leftist leanings. Sriramulu fought the powerful Reddy factions in Penukonda and Dharmavaram Assembly constituencies for several years and was murdered by supporters of fromer Congress MLA S Chenna Reddy. Reddy was killed seven years ago by the People's War Group (PWG). And his son, then a fresh engineering graduate, S V Ramana Reddy - who Ravi alleges is behind the blast - took over from where his father left off.There began another family feud which later became part of the Rayalaseema folklore. There were many more deaths. Ramana Reddy's brother Obul Reddy, an accused in a murder case, was gunned down and hacked to death in his flat in the posh Banjara Hills in the city. Ravi's brother Hari was killed by the police in an alleged encounter. And Ravi had to protect himself from the Reddy faction by joining the PWG.After Ravi's entry into politics, several Congress leaders directly or indirectly linked with the killing of his brother and father were murdered. Though Ravi left the PWG, the killing of his adversaries continued under the direction of Peoples War Re-organising Committee (ROC), said to be owing allegiance to him.
