In the course of Kaushik Reddy's tirade against the Congress leadership, the issue of appointing Gandhi to become a turncoat MLA came up.
Published Sep 13, 2024 | 5:00 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 13, 2024 | 4:22 PM
Arekapudi Gandhi and Kaushik Reddy
The appointment of Telangana turncoat BRS MLA Arekapudi Gandhi as the chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) led to building up of tension in Madhapur in Hyderabad with the supporters of the legislator forcing their way into the residence of BRS legislator Padi Kaushik Reddy from Huzurabad on Thursday, 12 September.
The seeds for the trouble were sown the previous day when Kaushik Reddy said he would go to Gandhi’s residence at 11 am and fly the BRS flag on it since the latter was claiming to be a BRS MLA though he had joined the Congress recently. Kaushik Reddy used harsh language while narrating how the Congress had gobbled up the BRS MLAs after the Assembly elections.
In the course of his tirade against the Congress leadership, the issue of appointing Gandhi to become a turncoat MLA came up. He derided the Congress for bidding farewell to the tradition that an Opposition party MLA should be appointed as the chairman of the PAC.
Kaushik Reddy slammed the Congress for denying the PAC chairman post to BRS and said it was unfortunate that the Congress should claim that Gandhi was a BRS legislator to defend its decision though he had already joined the Congress. He began questioning Gandhi as to how he could join the Congress when he won the Assembly election from Serilingampally on a BRS ticket. He said, as Gandhi was calling himself BRS Legislator, he would go to Gandhi’s house on Thursday and fly the BRS flag on his house.
In a sharp reaction, Gandhi, unleashing a torrent of invectives against him, dared him to do it and if he does not turn up, he would go to Kaushik Reddy’s house for a final showdown. Sensing that there would be trouble, police forces were posted in strength at Kaushik Reddy’s house after keeping him under house arrest since morning, preventing him from coming out.
When Kaushik Reddy failed to turn up, Gandhi and his supporters arrived at Kashik Reddy’s residence and forced their way in. The BRS workers who were present in good numbers, raised slogans against Gandhi even as the latter’s followers, went on a rampage, breaking the window panes of the residence. For some time, intense jostling took place between the two groups, despite the police trying to restore order. A few of Gandhi’s supporters gate-crashed into the premise of the house. Gandhi who led his supporters, sat outside Kaushik Reddy’s residence. He refused to move out despite the police asking to return home as tempers were already running high and there might be further breakdown of law and order.
But Gandhi refused to move out and demanded that either he be allowed inside Kaushik Reddy’s house or Kaushik Reddy should be presented before him. As Gandhi kept shooting off with his mouth, and his rabble, becoming fiercer, the police arrested Gandhi and took him away. Before he was whisked away, Gandhi used profane and derogatory language against him, forgetting that he was occupying a constitutional position of the chairman of the PAC.
The words that Gandhi used against Kaushik Reddy were unprintable and highly slanderous. He called him a “broker” who acted as a mole of the BRS when he was in the Congress. He said the BRS leadership had taken Kaushik Reddy into the party without knowing his background. If the BRS lost election, it was because of Kaushik Reddy’s behavior, he said and ridiculed him for trying to whip up sympathy of the people that he and his family would end their lives if they did not elect him to the Assembly from Huzurabad in the recent elections.
Taking a serious exception to Gandhi’s use of obnoxious language against him, Kaushik Reddy hit back, saying that he would go to Gandhi’s residence at 11 am on Friday, September 13 and drape a BRS shawl over him, since he was proclaiming himself as the BRS Legislator. Kaushik Reddy accused Gandhi and his supporters of trying to murder him.
“In this state, there is no security even to an MLA,” he said and wondered how the government could protect ordinary citizens. “Let Gandhi prepare for the inevitable for what he and his men had done at my residence. He would know what BRS is, tomorrow,” he said and recalled how Gandhi had migrated to Hyderabad from Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh. “I am a true-blue Telangana citizen unlike Gandhi. Gandhi and his supporters tried to barge into my house and kill me. When I tried to call the Commissioner of Police, there was no response,” he said.
Kaushik Reddy said that Gandhi had been saying that he had no issues with the BRS. “Gandhi is saying that he wants to settle scores with me. Let him say what issues are there between us. Are there any land disputes between us?” he asked and said that Gandhi, after winning the Assembly election on BRS ticket, sold himself out to Congress for consideration of crores of rupees. He dared Gandhi to resign and go for by-election and see what the result would be.
In message on X meant for The DGP of the state, former Telangana State digital media director Konatham Dileep described the attack on BRS MA “a worrisome” trend.
He raised several questions in his message. He asked:
“Even after Congress MLA Arekapudi Gandhi has issued open threats to BRS MLA @KaushikReddyBRS, why didn’t the Police take necessary action to stop a confrontation? Why wasn’t Arekapudi kept under house arrest?
Why was Arekapudi Gandhi allowed to take 500 goons with him in 100 cars from Kukatpally to Kondapur? His convoy covered a distance of 15 Kms and crossed three police station limits. Why weren’t they intercepted?
The Congress goons were carrying material like stones, eggs and tomatoes. Why didn’t the police detain them?
While everyone, including the media knew that an attack will happen on Padi Kaushik Reddy, why wasn’t enough police deployed at his house?
Videos clearly show Congress goons even attacking some policemen. Will cases be booked against those who were caught on camera?
Hope Telangana Police take stringent action on Arekapudi Gandhi and these Goons. Hope the police retain their professional conduct and won’t succumb to pressure from their political bosses:
As the dust settled, Gandhi’s descent to despicable depths in the use of abusive language against his political rival must have shocked the collective conscience of the entire society.
On 12 September, BRS workers led by former minister and Siddipet legislator T Harish Rao staged a protest in front of the office of the Cyberabad Commissioner of Police, denouncing the “attack” on Kaushik Reddy.
Raising slogans against the turncoat MLA, they kept protesting which ended up with the police arresting BRS MLA Harish Rao, and two other leaders – Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, and Vemula Prashanth Reddy.
Harish Rao sustained injury to his hand while the police were trying to remove the duo from the scene. Additionally, the BRS workers were also opposing the release of Gandhi on station bail after his arrest in the morning when he tried to storm his way into Kaushik Reddy’s residence. Meanwhile, BRS leaders insisted that a case of attempt to murder Kaushik Reddy should be registered against Gandhi and that if the police do not comply with their demand, they would take legal recourse.
Meanwhile,BRS working president K T Rama Rao, in a message on X said that the resolve of the BRS cannot be shaken by the cowardly threats of the Congress. He said: “Hooliganism or tyranny, call it what you wish CM Revanth Reddy, but let it be known: Congress goons and these cowardly threats will never shake the resolve of the BRS soldiers.
“We will defend every inch of Telangana from your corrupt misrule! Your fear tactics only fuel our resolve. Stand strong young brother @Kaushik ReddyBRS. The people are with you and so are we.”
దాడి చేసిన వారిపై సెక్షన్ 307 కింద హత్యాయత్నం కేసు నమోదు చేయాలి లేదంటే మేమంతా ఢిల్లీకి పోయి రాహుల్ గాంధీ ఇంటిముందు ధర్నాకు దిగుతాం.
నీ బండారాన్ని బయట పెడతాం.
– మాజీ మంత్రి, ఎమ్మెల్యే @BRSHarish pic.twitter.com/d3b8BtBx5e
— BRS Party (@BRSparty) September 12, 2024
(Edited by N Venugopal)
