11 Telangana legislators accused in hate speech-related cases
Fifty-eight current MPs and MLAs in the county have declared cases related to hate speech.
Hyderabad: Cases have been registered against 11 sitting legislators of Telangana for hate speech, the second highest number in the country, according to a report released by the Association for Democratic Reform (ADR) on Wednesday.
The state is surpassed only by Uttar Pradesh, which has 15 MPs and MLAs against whom hate speech cases have been registered. The report is based on an analysis of the self-sworn affidavits submitted by sitting MPs and MLAs prior to the last elections they contested.
Fifty-eight current MPs and MLAs in the county have declared cases related to hate speech. A majority of them, 27, are from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) rank second in the country, with six such legislators each; and the Telugu Desam (TD) ranks third, with three. Among the four cases registered against TRS Ministers K.T. Rama Rao and the 20 cases registered against T. Harish Rao, are cases for promoting enmity between groups. And among the eight cases registered against TRS MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha, is one for hate speech.