On Wednesday, November 15, a video of workers of the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Congress clashing in the poll-bound Telangana went viral on social media. The incident reportedly took place late at night on Tuesday, Tuesday, November 14 in the state’s Vikarabad area.
#WATCH | Telangana: Last night, a clash broke out between BRS and Congress leaders in Vikarabad. pic.twitter.com/BQ4xzlyAmE
— ANI (@ANI) November 15, 2023
Hindustan Times reported a similar incident in the Kodangal assembly constituency of Telangana’s Narayanpet district. The report stated that a clash broke out between two rival groups belonging to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the Congress late on Tuesday night leaving at least 5 people injured.
Inspector G Janardhan Goud of the Kosgi police informed that the incident took place at Sarjekhan village, where a convoy of BRS officials partaking in the election campaign was allegedly attacked by Congress workers.
Goud added that the Congress workers pelted stones at BRS leaders and also damaged their vehicles. “The window panes of the BRS leaders’ vehicles were broken,” the police official said.
Meanwhile, Congress workers claimed that Somasekhar Reddy, a BRS leader from Hyderabad came to Kosgi to distribute money among the voters. He also allegedly insulted the representatives of the ruling party and blocked the vehicles.
“The BRS workers retaliated by hurling stones at the Congress workers, leading to clashes between both groups, which created a tense situation in the village. In all, five persons, including three workers belonging to the BRS and two Congress workers, were injured in the stone pelting,” Goud said.
Police pacified the protesters, dispersed the crowd and took the situation under control. “We have booked a case of rioting under Section 146 of the Indian Penal Code against both the groups and are investigating the matter,” the inspector added.
After learning about the incident, BRS candidate Patnam Narender Reddy travelled to Kosgi, where he staged a dharna at the statue of Ambedkar and raised anti-Congress and anti-PCC slogans.
Reddy lodged a complaint with the Kosgi police stating that the Congress workers assaulted the BRS workers.
Congress workers also lodged a complaint in which they claimed that BRS leaders indulged in violence when questioned about the distribution of money among the voters.
Congress and BRS at loggerheads in Telangana
With the state gearing up for the Assembly election, political tensions between the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Congress party in Telangana have reached their peak. Only today, the Telangana Congress took to X to take a dig at BRS supremo and Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao. Calling the BRS government in the state ‘The Toilet Government,’ the Telangana Congress wrote, “Telangana governance is so bad that it clearly seems that all decision KCR takes are from the ‘Toilet’ !
The Congress shared a clip of an interview that senior leader Ajoy Kumar had with India Today, in which he listed the problems the state has faced under the KCR government’s leadership and the promises that the government has not been able to deliver on.
" BRS – The Toilet Government.
— Telangana Congress (@INCTelangana) November 16, 2023
KCR says he can operate from a 'Toilet too'..
Telangana governance is so bad that it clearly seems that all decision KCR takes are from the 'Toilet' !
-Highest unemployment in Telangana;
-40 Lakh unemployed youth in Telangana;
-Every family in… pic.twitter.com/IyfrEgEgrB
On November 14, Tuesday, BRS Working President and Telangana Minister K T Rama Rao accused the Congress of using minority communities as a vote bank, the result of which, he said, is that they are still living in poverty.
KTR further attacked Congress by asserting that farmers from Karnataka who came to Telangana regretted their decision to elect the Congress in Karnataka. they stated that this had only made their issues worse.
Another incident, which made it evident how the two parties have been at loggerheads with each other in the state, was when in September this year, BRS put up posters ahead of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, taking potshots at the grand old party.
The posters critical of prominent members of Congress who were accused of corruption were installed in the state capital before the crucial meeting in which CWC was referred to as the Corrupt Working Committee. Furthermore, a corruption scandal is attached to the name of every significant Congress leader. The poster advised people to “beware of scamgress scammers.”
Voting for the Telangana Assembly election 2023 will be held on November 30 and the results will be announced with four other states on December 3.
