Union textiles minister from Seemandhra Kavuri Sambasiva Rao faced a humiliating experience when eggs were thrown at him in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday.

The minister representing the Eluru Lok Sabha constituency was on a tour of Chintalapudi area when scores of YSR Congress Party activists accosted him.

Calling Rao a Samaikhyandra traitor, the protesters demanded his resignation from his union ministerial position. As the minister got down from his vehicle to persuade the protesters, a few eggs were hurled at him from a distance.

Luckily for the minister, the shots hit the police officials who were shielding him from all sides. The egg protest sparked off a fist-fight between the minister’s supporters from Congress and the YSRCP men. The minister, who initially kept his composure, however lost his cool after the attack and hailed abuses at the YSR Congressmen for their unruly protest.

The tension was soon diffused by the interference of police officials on duty at the venue. In addition, a few YSRCP activists including a former MLA, Maddala Rajesh, were taken into preventive custody and the passage was cleared for the minister’s convoy.

The protests against the bifurcation of the state have been gathering momentum. The protestors’ demand seeking Rao’s resignation comes close on the heels of the tabling of the Telangana draft bill in the state assembly and with this attack, Rao has joined the list of union ministers from Seemandhra coming under constant fire from the ‘Save AP’ crusaders. The union ministers have not only been criticised for their failure to stop the bifurcation process but have also been accused of betraying the region’s sentiments by toeing the Congress high command’s line.