TELANGANA: UNRULY MLAs GET THE RAP
On July 13, Telangana police arrested legislator Banoth Shankar Naik of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) after Mahabubabad district collector Preeti Meena complained that he had been “indecent and disrespectful” to her at a public meeting a day earlier. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao instructed Naik to apologise unconditionally after images of his unruly conduct were aired by TV networks and went viral on social media.
Meena also dashed off a complaint to the IAS Officers’ Association. After a general body meeting, its president B.P. Acharya handed state chief secretary S.P. Singh a memorandum demanding ‘institutional mechanisms’ to deal with incidents involving politicians. On its demand, the government set up an inquiry by IGP Charu Sinha.
Meanwhile, Naik’s detractors demanded his suspension from the party and similar action against M. Yadagiri Reddy, another MLA who had allegedly abused women officers, including a district collector, at Jangaon, when they refused to clear his proposal to allegedly take over six acres of a lake bed for an office block. The day Naik was arrested, wives of army and navy personnel demonstrated outside Reddy’s Hyderabad home, accusing him of selling them plots without mandatory government clearances.
Naik and Reddy sought to meet Rao, but he refused. They then approached deputy CM K. Srihari and chief secretary Singh, claiming they were being targeted. But the Telangana State Deputy Collectors’ Association was firm on its demand for strict action. Rao has made it clear that Naik and Reddy will be dealt with according to the law, but the Opposition isn’t buying it.