Published Sep 09, 2026 | 12:48 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 09, 2026 | 12:48 PM
Congress workers and Dalit organisations marched towards KCR's farmhouse in Erravalli, in a symbolic "Chavu Dappu" protest. (BarreJahangir/ X)
Outrage has erupted after visuals emerged of BRS Mahila Wing leaders, including Pavani Goud, pouring milk and turmeric water over a stretch where the Congress workers and Dalit organisations had marched towards BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao’s farmhouse in Erravalli, in a symbolic “Chavu Dappu” protest on Tuesday, September 8.
Reacting in the Legislative Council on Wednesday, September 9, Transport and BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar condemned the Erravalli ritual as an insult to Dalits and to constitutional values.
He said turmeric, considered sacred and used in temple rituals across Telangana, was being misused to demean citizens exercising their right to protest.
The move drew sharp comparisons online with the ‘shuddhikaran‘ (purification) ritual performed at Haldwani’s Ramlila Maidan in Uttarakhand after Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a rally there. AICC President Kharge had said the move left him feeling insulted and having to confront the pain of untouchability.
Prabhakar said the Erravelli incident reflected a shared mindset of discrimination against Dalits, and urged the House to condemn it and pressure BRS to correct its mistake.
Bhongir MP Kiran Kumar Chamala took to X, and wrote: “When political differences descend to the level of performing “purification” rituals with turmeric water, it exposes how deeply intolerance has entered their politics. Telangana deserves politics based on development, dignity and democratic debate, not superstition, humiliation and hatred. We will answer this mindset with the politics of progress and public service.”
This is not politics. This is the mindset of the @BRSparty.
When political differences descend to the level of performing “purification” rituals with turmeric water, it exposes how deeply intolerance has entered their politics.
Telangana deserves politics based on development,… pic.twitter.com/rBCU8TlodH
— Kiran Kumar Chamala (@kiran_chamala) September 9, 2026
The demonstration by Congress workers followed what they saw as derogatory remarks by BRS MLC Tata Madhu against Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, who belongs to the Dalit community.
BRS condemned the protest and alleged that the police failed to restrain Congress workers from marching towards the farmhouse.
BRS working president KT Rama Rao, former minister T Harish Rao, and several leaders were detained en route to the farmhouse from the Assembly on Tuesday.
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Sreshta Ladegaam)
