Congress veterans Kanna, Rayapati compromise to end 12-year feud

GUNTUR: In an interesting turn of events, the 12-year political feud between two senior leaders in Guntur has come to an end. Former Congress leaders Kanna Lakshmi Narayana and Rayapati Sambasiva Rao had played a significant role in the State politics, representing Guntur district though both of them belong to different communities. Rayapati was elected as an MP from Guntur constituency five times, while Kanna worked as a minister in the Congress government of the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh for 10 years from 2004 to 2014. 

Though they belonged to the same party and represented the same district, Kanna and Rayapati had differences regarding the development of Guntur city. In 2010, Rayapati made some adverse comments against Kanna which added fuel to the fire. Enraged by his comments, Kanna filed a defamation case for Rs 1 crore against Rayapati. 

After bifurcation of the State, Kanna joined BJP, while Rayapati got TDP ticket and won as an MP from Narasaraopet. As years passed, both of them never crossed paths directly, but the case has been going on in Guntur court. Recently, both the leaders were asked to attend the court personally, where Rayapati took his comments back and Kanna withdrew his defamation case and both of them had a friendly conversation on the court premises. Now, there may be a significant change in Guntur politics with the newfound friendship between Kanna and Rayapati, opined political analysts.