There is a high level of tension following controversial remarks made by former MLA and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader Nallapureddy Prasanna Kumar Reddy against sitting TDP MLA Vemireddy Prashanthi Reddy. The comments soon created a political storm prompting Prashanthi Reddy to make a formal police complaint seeking legal action against him.
Within a short while after that erupted, there were rumors that Prasanna Kumar Reddy had hidden because he feared the consequences. The YSRCP leader, however, in his address to the media, denied any such speculations and indicated that he had not gone underground or disappeared.
“I haven’t escaped. Fear is not my nature — I bear the lineage of Nallapureddy Srinivas Reddy,” he asserted. He explained that his trip to Chennai was purely for medical care and termed rumors of him going into hiding “baseless and ridiculous.” Reddy even dared the authorities, saying, “If needed, I’m willing to be arrested.”
He also called for an impartial and equitable probe into the recent invasion of his residence and asked the police to behave neutrally, without political bias.
Fueling the fire, sources indicate that YSRCP leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy approached Prasanna Kumar Reddy to offer support rather than condemn the offending comments. The action has been severely criticized by opposition leaders and political analysts alike, who argue the ruling party is promoting behaviour of a provoked kind by failing to sanction its own leaders.
Amid rising concerns about the language used by certain YSRCP leaders, critics point out that the party leadership’s continued silence is sending the wrong message, prompting further public outrage.