Mandya Congressmen on warpath against each other

Chairs and sundry items were flying, individuals argued loudly and engaged in fist fights and even the snacks that were served were used as missiles at a meeting of the district Congress workers on Friday.

The mayhem was the outpouring of the internal bickering between two groups within the district Congress unit, one owing allegiance to Ambareesh supporter Amaravati Chandrashekhar, and the other to district party unit president Atmanand and his lieutenant TS Satyanand.

The meeting, attended by state Congress president G Parameshwara, was convened to announce plans for receiving the AICC president Sonia Gandhi on September 30 to kickstart the statewide campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Shocked at the acrimony between the workers and the leaders, Parameshwara could only blurt out: “What can I say.”

The fight turned ugly when a worker threw a chair at a group of Atmanand’s supporters. The group was arguing with Parameshwara to send Atmanand and Satyanand out of the meeting hall as they allegedly he had made demeaning statements against Ambareesh.

“After some goons tried to take control of the meeting, I left the meeting hall on the instructions of my party leaders, but as a spokesperson of the district Congress party, I say that this was not the way longstanding members like me and Atmanand should be treated,” Satyanand told dna.