Vijaya Lakshmi faces no trouble from Telangana supporters

Vijaya Lakshmi and her daughter Sharmila campaigned in Parkal Assembly segment in Warangal district, the hotbed of statehood agitation, for the YSR Congress's Konda Surekha.

Top leaders including TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and even YSR Congress president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had faced strong protests, often violent, from Telangana supporters.

Jagan had to abort his plan to undertake `odarpu yatra' in Warangal district two years ago following violent clashes between his supporters and pro-Telangana agitators at Mahabubabad railway station.

But Vijaya Lakshmi had a smooth going mainly because TRS and Telangana political Joint Action Committee (JAC) decided not to oppose her campaign. TRS, however, asked why Jagan held a placard in support of united Andhra Pradesh in Parliament couple of years ago, while JAC wanted Vijaya Lakshmi to spell out her party's stand on the separate statehood demand.

Some student groups from Kakatiya University at Warangal and Osmania University in Hyderabad had said they would oppose her visit, but they did not pose any problem eventually.

Parkal is the only Assembly seat from Telangana region where by-election will be held. Other 17 seats where by-elections would be held are in non-Telangana regions.

The by-poll was necessitated in Parkal as the sitting Congress MLA switched loyalty to Jagan and voted against the government during a floor test in December.