HYDERABAD: Accusing the main Opposition BRS of trying to disturb the law and order situation in the state, Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Saturday found fault with BRS elected MLAs Arikepudi Gandhi and Padi Kaushik Reddy for spoiling the image of Telangana by resorting to personal attacks. He also claimed that the Congress never encouraged defections.
Warning that the government would not tolerate any attempts at disturbing the law and order situation in the city, Prabhakar made it clear that the government would not directly influence the police to file cases.
“Isn’t it a wicked act to provoke someone by saying that they would hoist a flag on their residence? Physical attacks are not acceptable,” the minister said, addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan along with TPCC working president T Jayaprakash Reddy, and Fisheries Corporation chairperson Mettu Sai Kumar.
Citing past instances of BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao bitterly criticising the people from Andhra region as a whole, Prabhakar said that the BRS leadership has a history of invoking Andhra and Telangana sentiments for their political benefits. He said that resorting to violence was not good for society in any sense, adding that law will take its own course. The minister also said that there have been attempts to destabilise the Congress government.
Lashing out at BRS working president KT Rama Rao, Jagga Reddy said that the Congress would not remain a mute spectator if the pink party attempts to poach its MLAs. He said that the Congress leadership has to protect its government to better serve the people. He also issued a strong warning to BRS leaders not to make any disparaging comments against the chief minister.
‘Harish instigated Kaushik’
Meanwhile, TPCC Media and Communications Committee chairman Sama Rammohan Reddy said that the BRS was trying to convert the conflict between two of its own legislators as a dispute between the people of Andhra and Telangana. He alleged that BRS MLA T Harish Rao instigated Kaushik Reddy as the former didn’t get PAC chairman post.