Eve-teaser row in Telangana House

Hyderabad: Deputy Congress Legislature Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka alleged in the Assembly on Monday that the TRS MLAs had resorted to eve-teasing by making derogatory remarks against Congress MLA and former minister Ms D.K. Aruna last Tuesday and demanded that the Speaker initiate action against them.

Mr Vikramarka said while the TS government was talking about checking eve-teasing by deploying SHE teams, the party MLAs themselves were resorting to it in the House. The TRS MLAs strongly objected to this and urged the Speaker to remove the reference of eve-teasing from the records.

“Our MLA got furious only after TRS MLAs made derogatory remarks against her. She asked them to keep their mouths shut only to prevent them from teasing her. But unfortunately, she was forced to tender apologies in the House while TRS MLAs were let off,” he said.

Legislative affairs minister T. Harish Rao, and home minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy, took strong exception to the remarks. “How can you term it eve-teasing? They were only arguments and counter arguments during the course of discussion, which normally happens. We demand that you withdraw it. If not, the Speaker should remove it from the records,” Mr Reddy said.

Later, Mr Vikramarka came down heavily on the TRS government for failing to implement any of its poll promises like 2 BHK houses for the poor and 3-acre land for Dalits, and for shifting of the Secretariat, blocking of Metro Rail in front of Assembly etc.

"A leader should be humble. But you are behaving in an autocratic and arrogant manner with an illusion that you will be in power forever. There is no valid reason to block the Metro Rail in front of the Assembly, as it will pass at a considerable distance from the T-martyrs’ memorial. But still you are not allowing them to take up the works. The re-alignment will impose an unnecessary burden of nearly Rs 3,000 crore on the state exchequer," Mr Vikramarka said.