A clash broke out between the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party workers on Tuesday, February 27 in Ramulapalli village in Telangana’s Siddipet district during the Karimnagar BJP MP Bandi Sanjay’s ‘prajahita’ padayatra.
Congress cadre blocked a road in which the BJP’s MP padayatra was to pass through and staged a protest demanding public apology from the former BJP Telangana president for his derogatory remarks against Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar. This led to a clash between the Congress and BJP activists in which a few of them were injured in stone pelting. The agitated Congress workers vandalised the posters and publicity material of the BJP affixed on roads. Police had reportedly detained a few BJP activists before the situation could escalate.
Bandi Sanjay started the ‘prajahita’ (for the people) padayatra from Karimnagar as part of the Lok Sabha election campaign. Without naming Ponnam Prabhakar, Bandi Sanjay said, “I am challenging the Congress leader who instigated the attack on Prajahita Yatra. I am not the one to run away like a coward but someone who bravely speaks about religion. If you or the candidate you nominate to contest against me in the elections win, I will renounce my political career. Will you do the same if I win? Do you have the courage to accept this challenge?” The Karimnagar MP denied making any derogatory remarks. He alleged that Minister Ponnam Prabhakar was deliberately twisting his words.
A day earlier, Bandi Sanjay made a demeaning comment against Ponnam Prabhakar. Replying to the Transport Minister who had asked him to seek votes on his own merit and not use Hindu god Ram or the Ram temple in Ayodhya for his electoral campaign, Bandi Sanjay had said, “These people ask what is the guarantee that Rama was born in Ayodhya. For their question, I am asking what is the guarantee that they are born to their own mothers? A complaint has been made against Bandi Sanjay regarding his remarks.