Telangana: BRS MLCs Arrested Over Remarks on Speaker, Congress Demands Apology
BRS MLCs arrested for alleged remarks against Telangana Speaker; Congress and Dalit groups demand apology, escalating political tensions.
Political tensions in Telangana escalated sharply on Tuesday after police arrested two Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLCs, Naveen Reddy and Tata Madhu, over alleged derogatory remarks against Assembly Speaker Prasad Kumar. The arrests have triggered a war of words between the ruling Congress and the opposition BRS.
A case was registered at the Saifabad Police Station following a complaint by the Speaker's Officer on Special Duty, Pollepalli Venkatesham. Police invoked provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, alleging the remarks included references to the Speaker's caste.
The development follows a protest march by BRS legislators outside the Assembly on Monday. Congress leaders and Dalit activists have alleged that BRS MLC Thatha Madhusudan made offensive comments against the Speaker. In response, scores of Congress workers and Dalit activists marched towards BRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao's farmhouse at Erravelli, demanding an apology.
The BRS has termed the arrests illegal and politically motivated. Working president K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) pointed to a recent Telangana High Court order that barred police from preventing BRS legislators from entering the Assembly. The court had observed that any violation of Assembly rules falls under the Speaker's domain, not the police's. It also directed the Director General of Police to identify and act against officials responsible for stopping the legislators.
"Despite the High Court's clear directions yesterday, you deliberately filed 'fake cases' today and arrested Tata Madhu and Naveen Reddy," KTR said on X, accusing the government of disregarding the judiciary. He also alleged that the Congress government has failed to deliver on its election guarantees and challenged it to arrest all BRS legislators if it claimed all 420 promises would be fulfilled.
KTR further demanded action over the alleged manhandling of BRS MLAs Sabitha Indra Reddy and Sunitha Lakshma Reddy during Monday's protest. Meanwhile, the BRS Legislature Party issued a whip directing its Legislative Council members to attend the Council session without fail. The High Court has posted the matter for further hearing on September 21.