The ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Wednesday lodged a complaint with the Telangana police demanding penal action against Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president A Revanth Reddy for allegedly calling upon the Maoists “to blow up Pragati Bhavan”, the official bungalow of chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
In a complaint lodged with director general of police Anjani Kumar, BRS spokesperson and MLC Palla Rajeshwar Reddy called the PCC chief’s remarks a “major crime”.
“Being a member of Parliament, Revanth Reddy giving a call to the Maoists to destroy a public property was nothing but an illegal and anti-Constitutional act..a major crime,” Reddy said while requesting that stringent action be taken against the MP.
Similar complaints were filed by the BRS leaders in police stations under the Mulugu and Narasampet areas, stating that the PCC chief’s call poses a “threat to chief minister’s life”. BRS Mulugu Mandal president Badam Praveen filed a complaint at Mulugu police station and demanded legal action against Revanth Reddy.
The BRS leaders also took up protests in Mulugu and Narsampet areas and burnt Revanth Reddy’s effigies, demanding that he be “sacked” from Parliament immediately.
The PCC chief had made the controversial remarks while addressing the gathering in Maoist-infested parts of Mulugu district during his ongoing Hath se Haath Jodo padayatra on Tuesday.
Stating that KCR, as the chief minister is called, had been “indifferent to the hardships of the people as he was confined to the four walls of the Pragati Bhavan”, Revanth said “even if Maoists blow up the bungalow, it would hardly make any difference to the people, as it was of no use to them”.
He alleged that hundreds of crores of public money was spent to build Pragati Bhavan, but it was of no use to the people. “What use is a structure built with hundreds of crores when the chief minister is indifferent to the sufferings of the people as long as he is inside it?” he asked.
“Like the Naxalites had set blasts in the forts earlier, what if they blast Pragathi Bhavan with dynamite? That Pragathi Bhavan is like a fort, there is no entry for the poor,” he said.
Condemning the PCC chief’s comments, BRS MLA from Narasampet Peddi Sudershan Reddy said an MP calling for blowing up the Pragati Bhavan is condemnable. “The Congress which banned Maoists should respond to the statement of its own leader,” he said and demanded that a case under the Preventive Detention Act be booked against the MP.
Revanth, however, defended his comments. “Pragati Bhavan was built with people’s money. It should be accessible to all sections of people. In the past, chief ministers like Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and N Chandrababu Naidu used to meet the people at their respective official bungalows. Why is KCR not opening his fort for the people?” he asked.
Calling upon the people to break the gates of Pragati Bhavan which had denied them an entry, the PCC chief said if necessary, the Congress will “take the responsibility” of dismantling the CM bungalow.
He recalled that KCR had in the past vowed to implement the agenda of Naxalites. “Why are the BRS leaders finding fault with my comments now?” he asked, and added that he had “only reflected the people’s thoughts”.
