Staring at an imminent defeat and fearing the loss of face, the Congress party is back to implement tricks from its old playbook. The party is resorting to violent means to attack its political opponents in the state. Irked by the growing popularity of Medak MP and Dubbak BRS candidate Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, a Congress party worker made a failed attempt to kill the BRS parliamentarian. On the pretext of shaking hands, the Congressman stabbed the MP in his stomach.
Prabhakar Reddy suffered grievous injuries in his small intestine and underwent surgery. However, this is not an isolated incident. Congress party cadre killed a communist party member a few days back in the Kothagudem constituency. At a juncture where talks are going on between the Communist parties and the Congress on the electoral alliance, this political killing exposes the Congress party’s desperation for power.
Congress has a long history of indulging in political violence to win power or save their seats. In 1991, to bring down Marri Chenna Reddy, a Chief Minister hailing from the Telangana region, Congress orchestrated a series of gruesome murders in broad daylight in Hyderabad. The extent of violence was such that innocent women were burned and children were stabbed. The law and order situation went out of control and the riots ravaged the city.
In 1978 too, the city faced a similar situation and the Indian Army had to intervene to quell the tensions. Coincidentally, Marri Chenna Reddy was the CM in 1978 too. In addition, multiple bomb blasts, communal tensions and curfews rocked Hyderabad in the Congress era.
According to reports, 871 riots happened during the Congress regime. The Congress rule is marred with the deadliest massacres such as the Nellie massacre, 1984 anti-Sikh riots, 2012 Assam riots, and 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots to name a few, and many of the riots were political in nature.
To win the ensuing Assembly elections by hook or crook, the Telangana Congress headed by Revanth Reddy is relying on political violence once again. Under the leadership of CM KCR, Telangana has been peaceful in the last ten years devoid of any tensions and turmoil. The Congress party’s ploy to win the political battle through violent means will take the state backwards unless contained and condemned.