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BRS blames Congress for attack on MP, fans political slugfest
The BRS leaders also pointed out Raju’s Facebook profile, which reads “Jai Congress Mirdoddi Mandal,” and the cover picture, which is a collage of his picture with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
A political row erupted on Tuesday over the knife attack on Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) parliamentarian Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, with the party unleashing a massive campaign blaming the Congress for masterminding the attack on the MP.
Reddy, who is also the BRS candidate from Dubbak assembly constituency in the upcoming assembly elections in the state, was stabbed by a 38-year-old man, identified as Gatani Raju from Cheppyala village of Midoddi block, when the former was doing door-to-door election campaign at Surampally village of Doulatabak block.
Within hours of the murder attempt on the BRS MP, the party took to social media to launch a vigorous campaign alleging that the attack was masterminded by the Congress. It released a couple of pictures with Raju wearing Congress scarf and even seen taking part in the campaign. HT, however, could not verify the authenticity of the pictures.
The BRS leaders also pointed out Raju’s Facebook profile, which reads “Jai Congress Mirdoddi Mandal,” and the cover picture, which is a collage of his picture with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
BRS working president and Telangana industries minister K T Rama Rao on Tuesday posted the pictures of Raju on X, with a caption, “The Congress goon who unleashed the murder attack on MP Prabhakar Reddy yesterday. Do you need more proof, Rahul Gandhi?”
BRS president and Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), who called on the MP in the hospital on Monday night, alleged that the Congress was indulging in cheap politics to gain political mileage and pursuing violence and hooliganism.
“They hatched a conspiracy to eliminate our party MP. There is no question of tolerating such murder politics. We have to overcome all such conspiracies and teach a fitting lesson to such forces,” KCR said, addressing a group of leaders from Nagarkurnool, led by former minister N Janardhan Reddy, who joined the BRS on Tuesday.
According to P Seshu, BRS activist from Siddipet, Raju was said to be working for a couple of YouTube channels in the past, but no local reporters had any clue about him as he was not an accredited journalist.
“He was never seen at any press conferences or political meetings along with other journalists. Some locals from his village claimed that he had resorted to attack on the MP because he was denied financial assistance under Dalit Bandhu scheme. But our enquiries revealed he had not even applied for the same,” Seshu said.
Congress candidate for Dubbak seat Cheruku Srinivas Reddy refuted the allegation of the BRS leaders that Raju was a Congress worker. “Those who are seen in the pictures released by the BRS are no more in the Congress. They are all in the BRS now. They are old pictures,” he said.
Condemning the attack on the BRS MP, the Congress candidate expressed surprise how the chief minister had jumped to conclusions within an hour of the attack. “This is nothing but mudslinging on the Congress,” he said and demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident.
The Congress party also released a picture of the accused Raju joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recently. The picture shows BJP MLA from Dubbak M Raghunandan Rao offering a saffron scarf to Raju.
The BJP MLA stoutly denied the allegations. “We have nothing to do with the incident. Let the government order any inquiry and prove the facts,” Rao said.
Meanwhile, Prabhakar Reddy, who underwent surgery for the stab injury he sustained during the election campaign in Telangana’s Siddipet district on Monday, is recuperating, a medical bulletin released by the hospital said on Tuesday.
Reddy has been moved to the Surgical Critical Care Unit (SCCU) where he is conscious and recuperating. “He is being monitored by a multidisciplinary team of doctors. He is on broad spectrum antibiotics, IV fluids, pain medications and other supportive measures,” the bulletin said, adding that he would be in the SCCU for the next 24-48 hours, after which he will be shifted to room.
Based on a complaint lodged by Surampalli sarpanch Ayyagari Narasimhulu soon after the incident, the Doulatabad police registered a case against Raju under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of Indian Penal Code, besides relevant sections of Arms Act. “The sarpanch has expressed suspicion on the complaint saying that Raju carried out the attack with two more people. Investigation is on,” Siddipet police commissioner N Swetha said.
