Hyderabad: The Congress high command is learnt to be pleased with Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s handling of the recent controversy involving Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, with the issue also fitting into the party’s larger national campaign on Dalit dignity and social justice.
According to party sources, the AICC leadership has taken positive note of the Chief Minister’s response and has conveyed its appreciation to the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee. AICC Incharge Meenakshi Natrajan too reportedly spoke to TPCC Mahesh Kumar Goud. Congress leaders are also said to have received encouraging feedback from Dalit organisations and sections of the community following the developments.
The controversy began after BRS MLCs Tata Madhusudhan and Naveen Kumar Reddy were accused of making derogatory remarks against Gaddam Prasad Kumar, who belongs to the Scheduled Caste community. The two leaders were subsequently arrested, though a Hyderabad court rejected their remand and they were released on bail.
The political row intensified after Congress workers organised a “Chaavu Dappu” protest near former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao’s Erravelli farmhouse. BRS workers were subsequently accused of conducting a “purification” ritual at the site after the protest. The Congress described the act as an insult to Dalits, while the BRS disputed the Congress version of events.
Revanth Reddy strongly backed Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar in the Assembly and announced a comprehensive investigation into the episode.
The Telangana episode comes at a time when Congress is already raising a similar controversy involving its national president Mallikarjun Kharge.
After Kharge, who belongs to the Scheduled Caste community, addressed a rally at Ramlila Ground in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, on August 8, a ritual was subsequently conducted at the venue. Congress alleged that it was a “purification” exercise carried out because Kharge had addressed the gathering there. The controversy has since become a national political issue, with an FIR being registered under provisions including the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Against this backdrop, Congress leaders see Revanth Reddy’s response in Telangana as strengthening the party’s wider political narrative on Dalit dignity.
The development also adds to what Congress has been projecting as its Telangana model of social justice.
The Revanth Reddy government conducted a comprehensive caste survey covering around 97 per cent of the state’s population. Telangana has also enacted legislation for sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes, dividing 59 SC communities into three groups for the distribution of reservation benefits.
With the BC caste survey, SC sub-categorisation and now the government’s stand in the latest Dalit controversy, Congress is seeking to present Telangana nationally as an example of its social justice agenda.
For the AICC, the latest episode is learnt to have further strengthened that political pitch, with Revanth Reddy’s handling of the issue receiving positive feedback from the party leadership.
By Naveena Ghanate
Courtesy : Telugu 360
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