Suspended Congress leader Chintapandu Naveen Kumar was attacked at his office on Sunday, July 13, by persons alleged to be members of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Kalvakuntla Kavitha’s cultural organisation Telangana Jagruthi. His gunman reportedly opened fire in response, injuring one.
A Member of the legislative Council (MLC), Naveen Kumar is popularly known by his screen name Teenmaar Mallanna. The attack was over derogatory remarks made by Mallanna against Kavitha, who is also the daughter of former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.
The group was reportedly angered by recent remarks made by Mallanna against Kavitha, who is daughter of former Telangana chief minister and BRS supremo K Chandrashekar Rao.
Mallanna, who belongs to the Munnuru Kapu BC community, made the remarks while questioning why Kavitha has lately been leading a struggle for enhanced BC reservation in local bodies in Telangana.
After the Telangana Cabinet on July 10 decided to issue an ordinance to increase the BC reservation in local bodies to 42% in the state, Kavitha celebrated the move seemingly as a win for Telangana Jagruthi. Under the organisation, she had earlier called for a rail roko protest on July 17 to raise the demand, which was called off after the Cabinet announcement.
Referring to her celebration, Mallana asked, “Why is Kavitha celebrating the BC reservation ordinance being announced? Is she BC?”. He went on to ask in Telugu if she had a relationship of a “plate” or a “bed” (interdining or sexual relationships) with BCs.
Even after the incident, Mallanna repeated the remarks and defended them. “By ‘relationship of bedding', I meant marital relations. It may mean something else in their language, but this is what it means in our language,” he said.
According to employees of Q News, the YouTube channel run by Mallanna, around 50 individuals stormed into the office and allegedly physically assaulted the politician. They also ransacked the office, destroying furniture and glass windows.
As the situation escalated, the gunman reportedly fired five rounds into the air to disperse the crowd. A Q News employee, identified as Sai, is said to have sustained injuries in the incident. Further details are awaited.
Following the incident, Kavitha asked the Telangana government to conduct an inquiry into whether Mallanna himself ordered his gunman to open fire, or if the gunman did so on his own discretion.
"It’s an unfortunate incident. The MLC passed a very derogatory remark on me. As a woman, I believe it’s a breach of my modesty. I’m complaining to the Legislative Council Chairman, asking him to refer [Mallanna] to the Ethics Committee,” Kavitha said.
She also sought Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s reaction to the incident. “CM Revanth Reddy had two women journalists arrested because someone passed comments [on their YouTube news channel] on the CM’s wife and daughter. I am also a daughter of Telangana. I request that he respond to these comments,” she said.
A controversial figure, Mallanna was suspended by the Congress party in March this year for his alleged anti-party activities.
Mallanna first gained recognition as the face of the satirical political show Teenmaar Vaarthalu, where he portrayed the character of Teenmaar Mallanna. He later launched his own YouTube channel, which became known for its critical commentary against political leaders, especially the previous BRS government. He is known for making disparaging remarks against his political opponents.
In 2021, Mallanna made headlines during the Nalgonda-Warangal-Khammam Graduates’ MLC election, where he contested as an independent candidate and posed a significant challenge to the BRS, emerging as a prominent opposition voice. In 2022, he was imprisoned for 73 days in connection with various cases, which his supporters allege were politically motivated.
