Hyderabad: A slap that echoed across the state — that’s what Telangana Home Minister Mahmood Ali delivered on the cheek of his personal security officer (PSO) on stage at a government event in Hyderabad, Friday. The incident, captured on video, took place at a state-run school where Ali was launching a ‘free breakfast for schoolgoers’ scheme.
The reason for Ali’s anger was that the security officer, who was a Telangana policeman, did not hand him a bouquet quickly enough to congratulate his colleague Talasani Srinivas, who was celebrating his birthday and was also present on the stage.
While the clip sparked outrage and condemnation from opposition parties and social media users alike, Telangana police associations were yet to issue a statement in this regard.
According to former IPS officer and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Telangana president Praveen Kumar, the home minister committed a criminal offence under IPC sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharging duties) and 504 (intentional insult intended to provoke breach of peace), among others.
“His actions were impudent. Ali has brazenly not even expressed regret till now. He doesn’t deserve to continue as home minister, and the chief minister should sack him immediately,” he told ThePrint. “Unfortunately, the police associations in Telangana are on a tight leash, toeing the ruling regime’s line. No elections (for police associations) are held. I feel sad I was part of this family,” said Kumar, who took voluntary retirement in 2021 to join politics.
Ali did, however, reportedly express remorse Saturday, a day after Congress leader Bakka Judson filed a police complaint against him in Hyderabad.
Filed complaint on Telangana Home Minister @mahmoodalibrs in @shosrnagar for slapping Police Constable.
Under IPC 1860,protects the public officer who is discharging his duties imposed upon him by law from such assault.
@Manikrao_INC @CVAnandIPS @DeccanChronicle @THHyderabad pic.twitter.com/olEvw0RrMN— Judson Bakka Official (@zson_bakka) October 6, 2023
But this was not a one-off incident. There have been multiple instances in the recent past involving leaders of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) either slapping or shoving their colleagues, subordinates or public representatives. Opposition leaders termed these instances a display of the ruling party’s ‘ego, power, arrogance and frustration’.
Even within the BRS, some leaders believe that party members should maintain “calm” while in public. Speaking to ThePrint, a senior BRS functionary who did not want to be named said leaders of the ruling party, especially ministers, should “maintain a calm demeanour, at least for the next two months or so, ahead of elections”.
Krishank Manne, chairman of Telangana State Mineral Development Corporation, however, said BRS leaders’ actions were ‘not intentional’ and had nothing to do with polls or style of governance. “Such incidents should not have happened. But to link such unintentional acts to elections or BRS’s governance, functioning style is absurd,” he told ThePrint.
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‘Yatha raja, tatha mantri’
Last week, Telangana Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao reportedly smacked Anjaiah Yadav, the BRS MLA from Shadnagar, in full public view at an event in Shadnagar, near Hyderabad.
And in August, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Cinematography Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav pulled the collar of a local leader and raised his hand to slap the latter as the leader was walking in front of him during the opening of a bridge in Hyderabad. This happened in the presence of K.T. Rama Rao (KTR), the municipal administration minister and working president of BRS.
Earlier this month, Finance and Health Minister T. Harish Rao reportedly kicked and damaged an LED TV, before confronting a railways official at the Siddipet railway station because there was ‘no photo of Chief Minister KCR’ on the hoardings there.
This was during the online inauguration of a new railway line in Rao’s constituency by PM Narendra Modi (during the PM’s Nizamabad visit). Their leader in a fit of rage, BRS workers went on a rampage, reportedly tearing off Modi’s face from hoardings at the station.
The slap-gate is the latest to hit the ruling side in the run-up to the polls after reported allegations of sexual harassment against some BRS leaders.
In June this year, a woman entrepreneur attempted death by suicide twice, after alleging police inaction against Durgam Chinnaiah, sitting BRS MLA from Bellampalli, whom she had accused of sexual harassment. After the first attempt in Delhi, she attempted to end her life a second time in Hyderabad and in a purported suicide note blamed the “indifference” of the BRS government over her repeated pleas for action against the legislator.
In the note, the woman also claimed that she had “submitted proof” to the police to substantiate her allegations and was hurt by KTR giving Chinnaiah a “clean chit”.
Chinnaiah had in a statement claimed that the allegations were ‘baseless’.
Chinnaiah’s name featured in the list of candidates BRS supremo and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) released in August for the assembly polls, in which the party retained more than 100 of its sitting MLAs.
A similar case surfaced in March when Thatikonda Rajaiah, BRS MLA from Station Ghanpur, was accused of sexual harassment by the sarpanch of a gram panchayat in Warangal district. Rajaiah, who had denied the allegation, has been denied a ticket by the BRS.
‘Impatience, arrogance, frustration’
Professor M. Kodandaram, president of the Telangana Jana Samiti, said “haughtiness accumulating over the years in power” is to blame for the “reprehensible acts” of BRS leaders.
“Several ministers in the KCR cabinet operate with the belief that they are going to remain in power forever. But as the state elections near, a sudden feeling of insecurity is taking over, resulting in such inexcusable acts,” Kodandaram said.
Congress MLA Danasari Seethakka termed the incidents “signs of BRS leaders’ growing impatience, which adds to their huge arrogance”.
“While Congress is gaining popularity (in Telangana), poor public response to BRS meetings, despite the several schemes announced and money spent on crowd mobilisation, is worrying the ministers,” she told ThePrint. “Even KTR at an event in Mahabubabad two months ago yanked his arm when BRS MLA Shankar Naik tried to hold his hand.”
Telangana BJP spokesperson N.V. Subhash said “frustration is the main reason” for such public outbursts of anger by BRS leaders.
“BRS’s own poll surveys show the party’s graph is falling, while KCR and KTR are putting pressure on these leaders to ensure the party’s victory (in the assembly polls), which is sometimes leading to such reprehensible acts,” Subhash told ThePrint.
“Earlier, BRS ministers and legislators could shout at people coming with grievances, venting their frustrations. But now, in the poll season, their wrath is felt by colleagues and hapless subordinates,” said Kodandaram, an activist who was also one of the prominent faces of the Telangana statehood agitation.
Kodandaram opined that the CM’s own conduct and remarks could be a factor motivating party workers’ behaviour. “It is the yatha raja, tatha mantri spectacle in Telangana,” he said, referring to the expression that the ‘subjects follow the king’.
While showing the clip of Errabelli smacking the BRS MLA, satirical shows on Telugu channels recalled clips of KCR slapping Errabelli’s shoulder on stage in Warangal six months ago. KCR was reportedly angry over the noise and the sound system at the event.
“KCR’s spiteful speeches against opponents also serve as motivation for his ministers,” said Kodandaram.
BRS attempts damage control
After protests from tribal organisations, minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav expressed regret and said he apologised to Rajesh Babu, chairman of the Bhainsa agriculture market committee whom he had shoved away.
In the case of Errabelli, who is from the Velama community like KCR, it was the other way around. With elections just months away, KTR, in a bid to control the damage, called it a rumour, and at a public meeting Thursday in Warangal, allowed Anjaiah — who is from the electorally significant Yadav community — to clarify that “it was not a smack but sign of minister Errabelli’s affection towards him (Babu) that was misunderstood”.
“Now, what if the BRS MLA slaps Errabelli back and asks him to take it as an affectionate gesture,” asked former IPS officer Kumar, adding, “I won’t be surprised if the poor constable also tomorrow comes out with a similar statement about Home Minister Ali.”
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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