Lagatar24 Desk
Hyderabad: A sexist remark made by Telangana BJP MLA P Kaushik Reddy, suggesting that defecting MLAs from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) wear sarees and bangles, has sparked a heated political exchange. In response, Congress leader Bandru Shoba Rani delivered a sharp rebuttal, warning that such insults toward women would not be tolerated and threatened to beat Reddy with footwear.
During a press conference, Reddy taunted the MLAs who had recently defected from the BRS to the ruling Congress by holding up a saree and bangles, saying, “You are not men, so wear these and go around.” His comments came after 10 MLAs switched their allegiance to Congress following BRS’s loss of power in last year’s Telangana Assembly elections.
Congress leader Shoba Rani, the chairperson of the Telangana State Women’s Cooperative Development Corporation and vice president of the state Congress, condemned Reddy’s remarks. Addressing the media, she held up a shoe, stating, “You showed saree and bangles. I will show you footwear. We will beat you up with footwear if you insult women.”
The BRS party, in response to the defection of its MLAs, has demanded the disqualification of the 10 MLAs who joined Congress. The matter has now reached the Telangana High Court, which recently directed the Assembly Secretary to present disqualification petitions against three of the defected MLAs—Danam Nagender, Tellam Venkat Rao, and Kadiyam Srihari—before Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar. The court ordered that a decision on the petitions be made within four weeks.
BRS Working President K T Rama Rao hailed the court’s decision as a victory for democracy, stating that the ruling would help restore transparency in the legislative process. “Now, the honorable Speaker Garu has 4 weeks to restore transparency and uphold the sanctity of the House. We fought relentlessly for this moment, no more betrayal of the people’s mandate! Jai Telangana!” he said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
