Statues caught in Andhra turf politics

The latest incident of desecration of an Ambedkar statue was reported early on Thursday when unidentified people desecrated a statue at Dowleshwaram near Rajahmundry,leading to tension. Dalits staged protests and blocked highways. Two days before that,three statues of Ambedkar were demolished in Amalapuram town.

The provocation was said to be a statement by Congress MP from Amalapuram G V Harsha Kumar,who said that while two PRP members belonging to Kapu community were inducted in the recent Cabinet expansion,Dalits were ignored. In that Cabinet reshuffle,Textiles Minister P Shankar Rao,who is from Mala community,was dropped. Harsha Kumars statement and allegations that Kapu leaders arm-twisted the Congress to induct the two leaders from their community heightened tensions between Kapus and Dalits. The attacks on statues of Ambedkar are learnt to be in retaliation for opposing the induction of Kapus.

Police officials said while they are aware of the tensions between Kapus and Dalits,they are also investigating the role of activists of TDP and YSR Congress who are fighting a turf war to corner locations where statues of their leaders N T Rama Rao and Y S Rajasekhara Reddy can be installed.

It is possible that someone is taking advantage of the tensions between Kapus and Dalits and demolishing the statues. To avoid further trouble,local residents may not oppose installation of statues of other leaders alongside Ambedkar, an official said.