Hyderabad, Feb 28 (IANS) One person was injured as activists of a group, protesting Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s visit to Andhra Pradesh, set fire to the party headquarters here Saturday.
The incident took place when Gandhi was addressing a public meeting at Secunderabad Parade Grounds.

The police said some activists of Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti (MRPS) barged into Gandhi Bhavan, located in Nampally in the heart of the city, and set fire to office records and furniture.

One office attendant, who was caught in the fire, suffered burn injuries and was admitted to a hospital.

MRPS activists, including women, also tried to disrupt the public meeting but were arrested by the police. The protesters threw chairs and raised slogans in support of their demands.

The MRPS earlier announced plans to disrupt Gandhi’s programme to press for their long-pending demand that the community be categorised as among the backward classes to benefit from emloyment and other reservations.

Madigas, a backward class community, want to ensure that they enjoy reservations in proportion to their population. The MRPS claims that Malas, another backward class community, was cornering all the reservation benefits.

The MRPS has been demanding that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government should bring a legislation to help fulfill the community’s demand.