JANGAON: In a video that has been making rounds on social media, Ghanpur (Station) constituency MLA Thatikonda Rajaiah is seen being hand-fed by a Class X student of Zilla Parishad High School at Chilpur village in Jangaon district. The MLA had, reportedly, visited the school to attend the retirement function of the school headmaster on Thursday.
Needless to say, the video turned many heads and raised many eyebrows. “Why should he be fed by someone? Because he’s an MLA?”
The video was flooded with comments such as these. And they were neither unwarranted nor baseless. In the said video, the MLA is seen sitting on a chair, while the girl student standing beside him is seen with a plate of rice and curry, waiting for him to swallow the food. Another student is standing beside them with a bottle of water.
When the MLA had no visible injuries on his hand and was fit to eat on his own, what was the need for him to get someone -- a girl -- to feed him, asked many. What was worse was that at one point in the video, when the student was mixing the rice, Rajaiah asked her to get him a boiled egg with it.
According to sources, the schoolchildren and local representatives had invited MLA for the retirement function. Speaking on the occasion, he reminisced his schooldays and shared instances with the students. The incident occurred when all the dignitaries were having lunch arranged by the students.
When Express contacted the girl’s family for comment, they refused to speak about the incident. Meanwhile, Rajaiah admitted that he was hand-fed by the girl.
“The student was the topper of the school. She came forward to feed me. I was reminded of my daughter and I let her feed me. How can people blame without knowing the facts?” he asked.