Warangal: Chairman of the Telangana State Cultural Council Erupula Balakishan (Rasamayi) is facing heat from the people of his constituency Manakondur and from the opposition parties. He is MLA for the second consecutive time from this constituency.
On Sunday, youth associations staged a dharna against the MLA Balakishan at Gundlapalli village on the national highway in Ganneruvaram mandal. They hurled old slippers on his vehicle, alleging that he had not fulfilled the poll promise of laying a double-lane road from Gundlapalli to Pottur.
The police arrested some youths along with DCC president Satyanarayana and some other Congress leaders who supported the youths' protest. They were released later in the day.
Two days ago, members of the Ganneruvaram mandal development joint action committee lodged a complaint at the police station against the Manakondur MLA, saying he threatened journalists and tried to provoke his cadre against them after they questioned him on the failure in the development of Ganneruvaram mandal.
The journalist union condemned the comments made by the Manakondur MLA against scribes. After a tiff with Ganneruvaram mandal press club president Srinivas, MLA Balakishan spoke to the management of the Namasthe Telangana in which Srinivas was working and got him removed from his job.
Karimnagar Press Club president Karunakar said “journalists are not afraid of such actions of TRS leaders.” Journalists’ union would intensify their agitation across the district until Srinivas is reinstated in his post, he said.
The MLA also faced the heat of the people of his assembly segment during the Munugode elections. He had promised the people of Dhoni Pamula village of Chandur mandal, of which he was incharge, of allotting Rs 2 crore in funds for development of the village “by diverting the funds of Manakondur constituency.” Social media platforms saw people questioning him as to how he could make such a promise to another constituency people while he was not doing anything for the development of his own constituency.
One Jella Chandraiah, resident of Vadluri village of Manakondur constituency made a phone call to Balakishan asking him to resign from his post as had failed to develop the constituency.
Recently, a case was lodged against the MLA in Bejjanki mandal in Manakondur constituency, two years after a complaint was lodged by the Congress party official spokesperson Pothireddy Rajashekar Reddy.
Rajashekar Reddy, who hails from Begumpet village of Bejjanki mandal alleged that Balakishan made a phone call to him on 7 November, 2020, threatened to finish him off and also used unparliamentary language.
