New Delhi : A political row has erupted in Telangana after a video showing Congress MLA Malreddy Ranga Reddy interacting with two girl students on a moving bus and holding the hand of one of them went viral. Ranga Reddy, 70, the Ibrahimpatnam MLA, is seen in the video speaking to two girl students while travelling on a state-run bus under the Congress government’s ‘Mahalakshmi’ free bus scheme for women.
The BJP attacked the Congress MLA over the video, alleging that Ranga Reddy appeared to put his hand around a young woman’s waist even as she visibly pulled away. “And this is the party that lectures the country on ‘Smash Patriarchy’? The hypocrisy is staggering. When will Congress apply its slogans to its own leaders?” BJP leader Arun Yadav said on X. On his part, BRS leader RS Praveen Kumar questioned why Ranga Reddy held the girl’s hand and allegedly touched her inappropriately, saying, “Is it not an offence? Is it not outraging the modesty of a woman?”
He also urged the Telangana DGP to take a complaint from the RTC conductor and register a case, while accusing the BJP and Congress of “competing with each other in insulting women.” Ranga Reddy, however, rejected the allegations, saying he had spoken to the girl students with “fatherly affection” and that the BRS had twisted the interaction. The MLA said he boarded the bus after attending a meeting at the District Collector’s office on Tuesday.
The video footage shows Ranga Reddy holding on to the student’s hand throughout the exchange. The clip went viral on social media. Responding to the incident, the MLA said, “the opposition BRS is behind making this video and also making it viral. It is a complete misrepresentation of an incident that occured on a moving bus. He explained that he boarded the RTC bus at Bongulur ORR on Tuesday specifically to assess the scheme’s implementation, noting that the free bus travel scheme is heavily utilized in the Ibrahimpatnam area, which is a college hub.
He alleged that BRS leaders, using their “paid batch,” circulated misleading posts on social media based on footage filmed inside the moving bus as it turned at a junction. Malreddy, who emphasized that he respects women as he would the female members of his own family, urged the public to take note of the conduct of BRS leaders. BRS general secretary R S Praveen Kumar urged the state’s SHE Teams and Women Safety Wing to intervene immediately.
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