A man was roughed up by workers of the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana’s Mahabubnagar on Wednesday, October 5 for bursting crackers at an event where Minister V Srinivas Goud was present as the chief guest. The incident occurred during an event organised at the Zilla Parishad grounds in his constituency Mahabubnagar to celebrate Dasara, where a Ravan effigy was to be burnt. According to reports, fireworks were set off without the minister's permission and this is said to have irked him and party workers. Workers of the recently renamed BRS called the fireworks organiser Harinath onto the stage and were seen beating him, in the presence of Minister Srinivas Goud and police personnel. While the party workers have been rebuked for their high-handed behaviour, the minister’s failure to intervene immediately and stop the assault has also been criticised.
BRS workers were seen beating up Harinath on stage, questioning him for setting off the fireworks. One worker was heard asking Harinath: “So what if it had rained? It doesn’t matter if the fireworks wouldn’t have gone off.” Eventually, Minister Srinivas Goud was seen intervening. Taking hold of the mike, he instructed that fire engines must be kept ready. According to reports, media persons filming the event were told not to record the incident, and media persons who were near the stage were made to step down by the police.
Srinivas Goud, who holds the portfolios of Excise & Prohibition, Sports & Youth Affairs, Tourism, and Culture & Archeology, had courted controversy earlier in August, for firing a gun into the air at an Independence Day event attended by several people including senior police officials. The video went viral, and many people questioned whether the act was legal. At the time, the minister had said that the gun was “not a real one” and that it only fired rubber bullets. In response to a Right To Information (RTI) query, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) recently said that while Srinivas Goud was its member, it was illegal for him to have opened fire in public using a police rifle.
Minister Srinivas Goud’s supporters thrashed a man during the Dussehra celebration in Mahabubnagar. Attack took place in front of the collector and SP. Victim was part of firecrackers display team, crackers were lit up without the minister's clearance, irking #BRS men. #Telangana pic.twitter.com/9QvWwLs26A
— Ashish (@KP_Aashish) October 6, 2022
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