Harish Rao visits injured Achampet MLA Guvvala Balaraju at hospital

Hyderabad: Health and Finance Minister Harish Rao visited Apollo Hospital in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, to meet Achampet BRS MLA Guvvala Balaraju, who is undergoing treatment after being allegedly attacked by Congress workers on Saturday night.

The MLA was allegedly attacked in a clash involving the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Congress in the poll-bound state of Telangana.

The incident took place in Achampet town of Nagarkurnool district at 11 pm on Saturday.

According to police, ruling party MLA Guvvala Balaraju was injured during clashes and was rushed to a hospital in Hyderabad along with others.

"Congress leaders suspected that the MLA was distributing money to voters. This led to an argument. Soon there was chaos, leading to clashes. A few Congress leaders tried to attack the MLA," according to Anudeep, the circle inspector of Achampet.

Responding to the incident, Minister KT Rama Rao said that violence has no place in democracy and hoped that everyone exercises restraint.

"Unfortunately, in Telangana, this time, we have seen a couple of incidents of violence. One was with respect to our MP Prabhakar Reddy, who is contesting as the Dubbak assembly constituency candidate, and another was with Guvvala Balaraju. These are truly unfortunate incidents. Violence has no place in democracy, and I hope and pray that everybody exercises restraint and whoever has perpetrated this is brought to justice ASAP," KTR said.

The BRS working president said that it is the frustration from the opposition camp that is visible in the attacks.

"I think it's the frustration that is creeping in from the opposition camp that is visible. It looks like they have realised that they are losing the plot and the elections. The law will take its own course and whoever has done this will have to face the consequences," KTR said.