Deputy Chief Minister M. Bhatti Vikramarka faced insult and discrimination at the Yadagiri Laxmi Narasimhaswamy temple on Monday, in the presence of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and other Cabinet colleagues N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, the opposition party, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has alleged.
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BRS leaders Balka Suman, Yerrolla Srinivas, G. Devi Prasad Rao and K. Vasudeva Reddy said that Mr.Vikarmarka and another Minister Konda Surekha, a Backward Classes (BC) leader, were made to sit on lower pedestals while the Chief Minister and the other two Ministers were on a higher pedestal while performing some rituals within the temple. They said it amounts to discrimination of the Dalit and BC leaders.
If such discrimination was taking place at a temple, it could happen anywhere now, they said, adding that the discrimination started earlier this month itself. All government advertisements issued since Congress party took over the reins of the State featured Mr.Vikramarka with the Chief Minister, but that was discontinued recently, they alleged.
AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge should respond to the temple incident and the Chief Minister must apologise to the Dalit community, the BRS leaders demanded. Going a step further, Mr. Srinivas demanded that an SC, ST Atrocities case be registered against those responsible.
On the other hand, State president of Bahujan Samaj Party R.S. Praveen Kumar, in a statement, said that the incident had brought out the real face of the Congress party. Stating that the Chief Minister had no respect for the Dalit community, Mr.Praveen Kumar said he failed to condemn the attack on Dalits at Janwada village on the city outskirts last month, console the aggrieved families and order an inquiry into the incident.