Dalit activists storm Andhra assembly building

There was high drama in the Andhra Pradesh assembly on Wednesday with activists of a Dalit outfit climbing the assembly building and threatening to jump over, demanding immediate categorisation as Scheduled Castes in the state.

The activists of the Madiga Reservation Porta Samithi managed to climb the assembly building and threatened to jump over in support of their demand. They raised slogans against Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy for the delay in their categorisation as SC.

Security personnel, however, managed to pull them back and took them into custody. Minutes later, some more activists of the outfit locked themselves up inside the chambers of ministers including that of Home Minister K Jana Reddy.

The security personnel opened the ventilators of the rooms and brought the protestors outside and whisked them away. The incident occurred after the House was adjourned for the day by the Speaker. The MRPS activists entered the assembly premises on visitor passes, official sources claimed.

City Police Commissioner B Prasada Rao and other senior officials visited the assembly and took the stock of the situation. Later, talking to mediapersons, the commissioner said 27 workers were taken into custody. "The police is yet to receive a complaint and we will proceed accordingly," he said.

Asked whether the incident was the result of any security lapse, he said everything will come out in the investigation.

Meanwhile, the opposition Telugu Desam Party and Telengana Rashtra Samithi parties held the chief minister squarely responsible for the incident.

The MRPS workers climbed the building as they felt cheated by the government which promised to meet their demand of classification of SCs. The MRPS are fighting for their classification of SCs in the state as it felt that other dominant sub-groups among SCs benefitted due to the reservation facility at the cost of others.