Hyderabad.14.09.2024: The BRS party and its MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy found themselves in damage control mode on Friday, denying any ill-will towards people from Andhra Pradesh who live in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana. The party claimed that Kaushik Reddy’s comments, which were directed at a single person, were being exaggerated for political advantage by the Congress. This comes after police stopped Kaushik Reddy’s attempt to visit the house of Arekapudi Gandhi, a BRS defector, along with party leader Sambipur Raju from Serilingampally.
Kaushik Reddy explained that his comment, “Gandhi is from Andhra, what business does he have here?” was a response to Gandhi questioning why Kaushik Reddy was in Hyderabad instead of Karimnagar, where he is from. The issue of Andhra people living in Hyderabad is a sensitive one for the BRS, as this group makes up a significant portion of voters in Hyderabad, where the BRS won 18 Assembly seats.
Kaushik Reddy had been in the spotlight after his remarks offering saris and bangles to BRS MLAs who had defected to the Congress. In a heated exchange with Gandhi, he called him an “Andhrodu” (a person from Andhra), which sparked accusations that the BRS was trying to reignite Telangana sentiment for political benefit.
To prevent protests by BRS leaders and supporters, police placed several party legislators, including T. Harish Rao, Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Sabitha Indra Reddy, and K.P. Vivekanand Goud, under house arrest, leading to confrontations between the police and BRS leaders.
In response, Harish Rao accused Congress leader and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of creating a new controversy to divert attention from the defection of party members and the illegal appointments to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which he called constitutional violations. Harish Rao criticized Revanth for using personal disputes and promoting attacks as a way to distract from real issues like helping flood victims.
Regarding the Andhra-Telangana issue, Harish Rao clarified that it was a personal matter between the two MLAs and was being falsely portrayed as a larger Andhra-Telangana conflict. He also blamed the police for not arresting Gandhi earlier, which could have prevented the entire controversy. Harish Rao further accused Revanth Reddy and the Director General of Police (DGP) of being responsible for the attack on Kaushik Reddy’s house and for trying to cover up the damage afterward. He also accused Revanth of orchestrating political vendettas and causing a breakdown in law and order in the state. He concluded by saying that the current situation in Telangana is worse than during the Emergency days.
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