A month after protests erupted over renaming a district, the Andhra Pradesh cabinet on Friday approved a proposal to rename the new Konaseema district as Dr B R Ambedkar Konaseema.
Konaseema district was carved out of the erstwhile East Godavari in April as part of the reorganisation of districts in the state. Last month, the state government issued a draft notification for renaming the district as Dr B R Ambedkar Konaseema and invited suggestions from people.
This led to protests from certain sections in the region and culminated in arson in Amalapuram town, in which the houses of state Transport Minister Pinipe Viswarupu and ruling YSR Congress MLA P Satish were torched.
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More than 250 people, including some followers of the minister and activists of YSRC, TDP, BJP and Jana Sena, were arrested in connection with the arson.
The proposal to rename the district was placed before the state cabinet, which met here on Friday under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. With the cabinet approving the proposal, a formal notification renaming the district would be issued in the next few days, official sources said.
(With PTI inputs)
