Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief A. Revanth Reddy may face action from the state government for his continued verbal attacks on Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
An indication in this regard came on Friday when the working president of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), K. T. Rama Rao, referred to Union minister Narayan Rane's recent arrest in Maharashtra for his 'slap' slur against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackery.
"In Maharashtra, they arrested a central minister. If you want us to do the same, we will do it," Rama Rao said while talking to reporters here.
Rama Rao, a cabinet minister and the son of Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao, warned that TRS will not keep quiet if anybody talks whatever he likes about KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known.
He said Rane was arrested in Maharashtra for his 'slap' remark, while in Telangana, some opposition leaders are using abusive words against the chief minister and even talking of 'killing' him.
"There is a limit to patience. We have told them this many times. Should we tolerate this kind of language being used against a leader who fought for and achieved Telangana state, held many positions in his long political career and who has been blessed as a two-time chief minister by the people," Rama Rao asked.
KTR, as Rama Rao is popularly known, said that unable to tolerate the attacks anymore, TRS leaders are also responding. He referred to Isaac Newton's theory that for every action there will be an equal and opposite reaction.
He also defended Labour Minister Malla Reddy's counter attack on Revanth Reddy, saying the minister has more 'josh' and excitement.
He said that those who are into politics should speak in a civilised manner.
KTR also alleged that some individuals in the guise of journalists are saying whatever they like about the chief minister, adding that freedom of speech also has some limitations.
He also targeted Revanth Reddy by calling him a stooge and a 'benami' of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N. Chandrababu Naidu.
"The main opposition party found nobody to lead and so it imported from TDP a man who was caught red-handed with wads of currency notes," KTR said, referring to Revanth Reddy's arrest by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in the 'cash for vote' scam in 2015.
The TRS leader also stated that KCR during the Telangana movement might have said something out of anger because of the situation then as the youth were committing suicide, but there is no reason to use unparliamentary words to attack him.
A bitter critic of KCR and his family, Revanth Reddy has been making bitter attacks on the chief minister ever since he took over as TPCC chief last month.
Addressing public meetings, the Congress leader has said that if the Congress is voted to power in the next elections, KCR would be sent to jail.
KTR recalled that an opposition leader had earlier called KCR 'battebaaz' (cheat). He was referring to the attack on the CM by former TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy.
