Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Tuesday denied that he was insulted at the programme held at Yadadri temple in Yadagirigutta on Monday, which was attended by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and other ministers.
A day after opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) claimed that Deputy Chief Minister Vikramarka was “insulted and humiliated at the Laxmi Narasimha temple as he is a Dalit”, he clarified that he intentionally sat at a lower height when the priests were blessings the Chief Minister and other ministers.
Talking to reporters at a programme in Hyderabad, Vikramarka said that as the Deputy Chief Minister, he is running the state administration. “I am not the one to bow my head before anybody. I don’t have the mindset of killing self-respect,” he said.
The Deputy Chief Minister said that the photograph of the event at the programme was being circulated on social media by trolls without any sense.
BRS leader K. Kavitha had alleged that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy who belonged to the upper caste insulted Deputy Chief Minister Vikramarka and Minister Konda Surekha.
She claimed that Vikramarka and Surekha were humiliated by being made to sit at a lower height during the priests’ blessings at the temple.
Kavitha termed the incident unfortunate and demanded an immediate apology from Revanth Reddy to Vikramarka.
The Chief Minister along with his wife, Deputy CM and some ministers had visited the famous temple and offered prayers on Monday.