GUNTUR: In a virtual show of strength, Kanna Lakshminarayana stole the thunder from his arch rivals in the party, Rayapati Sambasiva Rao and Dokka Manikya Varaprasad, during the whirlwind tour of Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar here on Friday.
He stayed away from the hectic assembly session for two days by getting permission from the CM to make the programme a success. Anticipating the absence of local Congress MP Rayapati, Kanna lined up two MPs --Kavuri Sambasiva Rao and Lagadapati Rajagopal from Kamma community - at the speaker's programme. In addition, he prevailed upon his political mentor and former TDP MP Yelamanchili Sivaji to translate Meira Kumar's public address into Telugu.
Dokka, hailing from Madiga community, has good contacts with Meira Kumar, who helped his rise in politics thanks to his community connections. Sensing trouble, Kanna got the arrangements made by an NGO, All-India Samata movement led by Pushpa. By giving importance to the NGO, Kanna succeeded in getting the names of his rivals deleted from the list of invitees. Dokka cried foul. "I have not received any invitation. Perhaps, they (NGO) did not bother to invite me as the function was not organized in my constituency," said Dokka. Sources said Kanna's attempt to install Jagjivan Ram statue was made only to take on Dokka. "Kanna wanted to put an end to Dokka's interference in his constituency affairs in the guise of Dalit rights by making Meira Kumar's visit a prestigious programme," insiders in Kanna camp said.
In an attempt to scuttle Kanna's attempts, Rayapati wrote a letter to Meira with a request to postpone the tour. He had also tried to pressure her by informing her that he would be out of the city during her visit. Subsequently, rural development minister Dokka lobbied for cancellation of the programme as the statue of Jagjivan Ram was donated by his rival and Supreme Court advocate Pushpa.
Meira Kumar herself showered praise on the minister saying that his 'commitment' and dedication to the welfare of Dalits was reflected in the enthusiasm of locals. Meira Kumar's tour was mired in controversy ever since she had agreed to visit Guntur to unveil a statue of her late father Babu Jagjivan Ram as the entire schedule was finalised at the behest of Kanna Lakshminarayana.
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