The Congress party, it appears, is totally on the defensive mode, as its leaders were found to be involved in one controversy or the other. The other day, the party received a huge embarrassment when its MP candidate for Warangal Lok Sabha by-elections S Rajaiah was arrested in connection with the death of his daughter in law and three grandchildren in a cylinder blast case at his residence. Though the party leaders tried to save him initially, they were forced to sack him from the party after it was proved that he was a prime accused in the case. Now, the Congress leadership is once again in the soup, with the alleged involvement of its former MLA Malladi Vishnu in the liquor tragedy case at Vijayawada. The police on Tuesday registered cases against Vishnu and eight others in connection with the deaths of five people after they consumed adulterated liquor at the bar.

The building in which the bar is located belongs to Vishnu, while his brother-in-law and mother-in-law are major partners in the bar. Vishnu, however, denied the reports that he was the owner of the bar. Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president N Raghuveera Reddy critcised the TDP government for trying to foist cases against Vishnu, who was fighting against the government failures. He said the government should conduct a thorough probe into the liquor deaths at Krishnalanka in Vijayawada. He said the Congress party would not keep silent if it tried to vindictive acts against Vishnu. The case should be probed in all the angles and an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh should be paid to the families of the victims.