Former minister and senior YSR Congress Party leader Nallapareddy Prasanna Kumar Reddy’s residence was allegedly attacked on Monday by workers of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) who were protesting against his alleged derogatory comments against MLA Vemireddy Prashanti Reddy, police said on Tuesday.
Following the incident, Prasanna lodged a complaint with the Nellore Town-IV police, alleging that the TDP workers attacked his residence and vandalised the premises in an attempt to eliminate him.
On being questioned, Prashanti alleged that the YSRCP leader made sexist, derogatory, vulgar and abusive comments against her, police said.
The TDP lawmaker, who is the wife of industrialist-turned-Lok Sabha member Prabhakar, defeated Prasanna in the May 2024 assembly elections from Kovvur constituency in Nellore district.
The controversy began when the former YSRCP MLA, speaking at a party meeting in Kovvur on Monday evening, alleged that Prashanti had married the MP by blackmailing him. He commented that she might poison and kill him in his sleep, even referring to the MP “falling into a borewell” after marriage.
A statement from the TDP quoted Prasanna as saying that Prabhakar Reddy was forced to marry Prashanti as nobody was ready to marry her. “Had the MP asked me, I would have arranged a young girl for him to marry,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}A statement from the TDP quoted Prasanna as saying that Prabhakar Reddy was forced to marry Prashanti as nobody was ready to marry her. “Had the MP asked me, I would have arranged a young girl for him to marry,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}In her complaint, Prashanti alleged that the YSRCP leaders who were present on the stage cheered him, “exposing the party’s toxic culture of disrespecting women.”
As his comments were aired in local television channels and also on social media, a group of miscreants went to Prasanna Kumar Reddy’s residence in Nellore town at around 11 pm on Monday.
“The TDP supporters attacked and ransacked my house, causing extensive damage to my property. The assailants vandalised the house, shattered windows, broke furniture, and smashed two parked cars. They destroyed everything and stole the CCTV hard disk,” Prasanna told reporters.
On Tuesday, hundreds of women members of the TDP staged a protest against the YSRCP leader in Nellore, demanding stringent action against him. They also demanded that he be barred from entering the constituency.
The TDP women leaders filed a complaint against Prasanna at Kovvur police station, as protesters shouted slogans demanding that a public apology from the YSRCP leader to the MLA.
Andhra Pradesh State Women’s Commission chairperson Rayapati Sailaja strongly condemned Prasannakumar Reddy’s remarks. “The comments made by the YSRCP leader against the female legislator are deeply insulting to all women and disgraceful to any civilized society,” she said.
State education and IT minister Nara Lokesh, deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan and home minister Vangalapudi Anitha also condemned the comments.
YSRCP leader and former minister Anil Kumar Yadav said despite a detailed complaint being filed with video evidence, not a single person was arrested so far. He demanded that an attempt-to-murder case be filed against the TDP MLA and her husband.
YSRCP MLC Parvathareddy Chandrasekhar Reddy expressed shock that even after 20 hours had passed since the filing the complaint, police had not registered an FIR. He questioned how police could fail to protect a senior leader’s home in Nellore city, and warned that the safety of ordinary citizens was now at risk.
While Nellore SP did not respond to the calls and messages, a senior official of the district police said on condition of anonymity that investigation was going on based on the complaints registered by both the YSRCP and TDP leaders.
“We shall register the cases shortly,” he added.