Tension prevailed outside the residence of former Andhra Pradesh minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy on Monday, October 2, days after he made several misogynistic, disparaging remarks on Minister RK Roja. Bandaru had triggered a row with his controversial comments earlier on September 27, when he had called YSRCP leader Roja “a woman of the street.” He claimed that he was in possession of her pornographic videos, and threatened to leak them and “drive Roja and her husband to suicide” if she didn’t stop speaking about jailed former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and his family members in a derogatory way.
An FIR was registered against Bandaru over his remarks, at Guntur’s Nagarampalem police station. Police personnel have been deployed in huge numbers outside Satyanarayana’s residence at Vennelapalem in Visakhapatnam district’s Parawada since the morning of Monday, October 2. Amid speculation that he would be arrested soon, a tense situation prevailed outside Bandaru’s residence as TDP cadres who reached his residence to offer support tried to confront the police personnel.
Ever since Naidu was jailed in the skill development corporation scam case, his wife Nara Bhuvaneshwari and daughter-in-law Nara Brahmani have been vocal in refuting the allegations against the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief. Amid the ongoing war of words between YSRCP and TDP leaders, earlier on September 27, Roja had alleged that Bhuvaneshwari and Brahmani were actively involved in hiding the proceeds of financial crimes committed by Naidu and his son Nara Lokesh. She accused the two women of looting public money and now “shamelessly” supporting Naidu.
Objecting to Roja’s statements against a “traditional, good housewife” like Bhuvaneshwari and other “respectable” members of the NT Rama Rao family including Brahmani, Bandaru made several crass and extremely sexist remarks against Roja, a former actor. He claimed that Roja had acted in “blue films,” and that he had such videos which he could release and “ruin her family.” He repeatedly made insinuations about Roja and her association with politicians in the past, before she entered politics and was still part of the film industry.
“What worth does your life have, to talk about the NTR family in a derogatory way?” the TDP leader asked, addressing Roja.
He even blamed Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for failing to “control” Roja, claiming that if a TDP leader spoke in a disrespectful manner, Naidu would have suspended them.
On September 30, AP Women's Commission Chairperson Vasireddy Padma had written to Director General of Police Rajendranath Reddy about the matter, demanding strict action on Bandaru.
Reacting to Bandaru’s remarks, Roja told the media that the law would deal with people who insult women. She denied making denigrating remarks against Bhuvaneshwari and Brahmani and said, “I only told them not to lie and lose people’s respect for them… Are only Bhuvaneshwari and Brahmani women? Are women in YSRCP, not women (worthy of respect)?” Roja asked.
Andhra Pradesh Minister for Tourism, Culture and Youth Advancement Roja has been an active politician after a successful acting career, mainly in Telugu and Tamil films. She joined the TDP in 1998 while she was still working in films, and served in several different positions in the party. After failing to win elections on a TDP ticket, she later joined the Congress party led by YS Rajasekhar Reddy, CM Jagan’s father, in Andhra Pradesh. After his demise, she joined the YSRCP founded by Jagan, and was elected as the MLA from Nagari Constituency in 2014 and 2019.
Earlier in 2021, rebel MLA from Gannavaram Vallabhaneni Vamsi (suspended by TDP after he declared his support for the ruling YSRCP) had made certain objectionable comments on Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh and Nara Bhuvaneshwari in an interview with Sakshi TV, which triggered controversy. Naidu later broke down in front of the media after an Assembly session, saying he had remained calm in the face of continued humiliation from YSRCP members but was pained with his wife being targeted.
Read: ‘Raised with values’: Naidu's wife Bhuvaneswari reacts, days after he breaks down