The inhuman incident of a Dalit woman being assaulted and stripped by Telugu Desam Party leaders backed by Pendurthi MLA Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy, at Jerripothulapalem village on Visakhapatnam suburbs, pushed chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on the defensive.
The chief minister, who has already been facing a lot of criticism over the alleged multi-crore land scam involving senior politicians of the TDP in Visakhapatnam, is all the more embarrassed with the Pendurthi incident, which brought to light how the ruling party leaders were openly indulging in land grabbing.
With the issue taking caste colour as it involved a Dalit woman, Naidu had no option but to order a comprehensive inquiry by Visakhapatnam district collector into the incident.
He also asked the police not to succumb to any political pressures and take stern action against the accused, who were arrested in the case.
The TDP leaders tried to silence the issue by offering Rs 1 lakh to the Dalit woman, but she refused to accept it, saying that it would not bring back her lost honour. She demanded that the accused be punished strongly.
The TDP president, who returned from his Maldives trip on Friday, reportedly called up Satyanarayana Murthy and pulled him up for causing huge damage to the party in Visakhapatnam.
“Such incidents will not only damage my image but also the party’s prospects in the elections,” he reportedly told the MLA.
