Senior Telugu Desam Party leader and former Anantapur MP J C Diwakar Reddy’s unsavoury comments against the police forces a couple of days ago, stating that he would make the police lick his boots if the TDP came to power again evoked strong reactions from the police.
The Anantapur district police officers’ association threatened to file defamation case against Diwakar Reddy and prosecute him if he did not tender an unconditional apology to the police for making such derogatory remarks.
But the biggest counter to Diwakar Reddy came from YSR Congress party leader and Hindupur MP Gorantla Madhav on Friday.
At a press conference, Madhav cleaned the shoes of a police officer who laid down his life for the country and kissed the same, as a gesture to remember the sacrifices of the police.
“I kiss the boots of policemen who have sacrificed their lives in the process of saving the lives of the people and in protecting the nation’s sovereignty and integrity,” he said.
He also made it clear that if the party high command ordered him, he would even resign from his MP seat and re-join the police department to teach a fitting lesson to Diwakar Reddy.
It may be mentioned that Madhav, earlier working as a police inspector in Kadiri police station, had entered into a confrontation with Diwakar Reddy in September 2018.
He was reacting sharply to Diwakar Reddy’s comment that the police were acting like eunuchs, as they failed to control a group class in a village near Tadipatri in the district.
Madhav, who was then district police officers’ association president, threatened to slash the tongue of Reddy, who was then MP, if he disrespected the morale of the force.
He later resigned from the police department and joined the YSR Congress party. He contested the parliament elections from Hindupur and won the seat.
Diwakar Reddy, however, did not express regret making “boot-licking” comments against the police. He said he had made the comments against not all the police personnel, but only a few who were acting as stooges of the YSR Congress party.
“I made the comments out of anguish. I might have slipped my tongue, but one should understand the spirit of my comments. There is no need to react so strongly,” he said.
