BRS MP and Dubakka candidate Prabhakar Reddy stabbed on campaign trail; it’s an atttack on me, says KCR

The MP Prabhakar Reddy is contesting from the Dubbaka Assembly constituency against the sitting BJP MLA M Raghundhan Rao.

BySouth First Desk

Published Oct 30, 2023 | 3:41 PM ⚊UpdatedOct 30, 2023 | 5:33 PM

Medak MP Prabhakar Reddy attacked by a local reporter

Medak MP Prabhakar Reddy attacked by a local reporter (right). (Supplied)

BRS Medak MP K Prabhakar Reddy suffered stab wounds after a reporter from a YouTube channel attacked him with a knife at Surampally village in Daulatabad mandal in Siddipet district on Monday, 30 October, provoking an angry reaction from party supremo and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.

At a rally in Banswada, KCR, as the chief minisyter is popularly known, declared: “I am saying the attack on our Dubbak candidate is an attack on me,” he said.

He said that everyone, including the people and intellectuals of Telangana, should unequivocally condemn the attack on the candidate.

Prabhakar Reddy is contesting from the Dubbaka Assembly constituency against the sitting BJP MLA M Raghundhan Rao.

As part of a door-to-door campaign, Reddy was interacting with the villagers in Surampally on Monday when the incident happened.

He came out of a house after calling on a pastor when the reporter, identified as Gatani Raju, aged 40 years, came to shake hands with him.

Raju then took out a knife and attacked Reddy, resulting in stab wounds on his stomach.

Shifted to Hyderabad

ID card of the local reporter

ID card of the local reporter. (Supplied)

Reddy’s followers rushed him to a hospital in Gajwel and later to a corporate hospital in Secunderabad where his condition is said to be stable.

With the help of Reddy’s followers, the police, who were on bandobust duty during the election campaign, took Raju, a resident of Peddapyala village in Mirudoddi Mandal, into custody for questioning him.

Raju was beaten up by the BRS candidates supporters before he was taken into custody by the police.

The motive for the attack is not known.

Finance Minister T Harish Rao, who was on the way to Narayankhed, came to know about the incident, and immediately rushed to the Gajwel hospital to know the condition of Reddy. Rao enquired about Reddy’s health condition with the duty doctors.

What KCR said

Reacting to the incident at his Banswada rally, KCR called the attack unpfrecedented in the hsitory of Telangana’s electoral politics, and warned those indulging in violence.

“If the attacks are not stopped, if there is no self-control, we also have courage. If we also resort to the same acts, you will not remain. Even (your) dust will not remain,” he said.

“In the last 10 years, there were many elections, yet, never did we see such incidents, we won based on people’s wish and our work, but never resorted to such acts,” the chief minister said.

“Our focus has been on welfare — on electricity, on crops, and other such things — while you people are resorting to such acts,” he added without naming any political party.

Meanwhile, reacting to the attack on the BRS MP, Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan directed the state DGP to ensure the safety of all election contestants.

Importance of Dubbaka

The Dubbaka Assembly constituency is significant as it was the first of the two byelections won by the BJP after the 2018 state elections — when it won just one seat in the 119-member House.

The party’s Raghundhan Rao defeated BRS’ Solipeta Sujatha Reddy by a narrow margin of just over 1,000 votes in a 2020 byelection necessitated by the death of her husband and two-time MLA Solipeta Ramalinga Reddy.

The victory marked a period of resurgence for the party that also saw former BRS leader Eatala Rajender wrest the Huzurabad constituency in a byelection for the saffron party in 2021.

The BRS is going all out to wrest the Dubbaka seat back from the BJP by fielding its Medak MP Prabhakar Reddy from the segment.

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