BRS women legislators demand accountability from Congress on women’s safety

BRS MLA P Sabitha Indra Reddy and other women legislators criticised Congress for rising crimes against women and demanded accountability, urging the Speaker to let them speak in the Assembly.

Hyderabad: Slamming the Congress for rising crimes against women in Telangana, the BRS women legislators demanded the State government for accountability over its failure to safeguard women. They also lashed out at Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and his colleagues over disrespectful treatment towards the BRS women legislators in the Assembly, urging the Speaker to give them an opportunity to speak in the House at least on Friday.

Speaking to mediapersons at Telangana Bhavan here on Thursday, former Minister and Maheshwaram MLA P Sabitha Indra Reddy highlighted the rising incidents of violence against women and the government’s inadequate response. She criticised Chief Minister Revanth Reddy for his reluctance to allow women legislators to speak in the Assembly.

---

“The Congress leaders keep chanting about Indira Gandhi’s rule (Indiramma Palana) and Sonia Gandhi’s leadership, but they have least respect for their women legislators. They also do not have any concern for safety of women in the State who voted them to power. The Chief Minister is reluctant to give the mic to us in the Assembly, fearing that we are raising the crimes against women,” she said.

Sabitha Indra Reddy also accused the ruling party of mocking female legislators and ignoring their pleas for attention to women’s safety issues. She pointed out that previous Chief Ministers including YS Rajasekhar Reddy, N Chandrababu Naidu, K Chandrashekhar Rao and others were never been disrespectful towards women. “They were more responsive when women legislators raised concerns. But the current Chief Minister shows no such sensitivity,” she said, citing the Speaker’s neglect of their requests. She also condemned the arrests of BRS MLAs who were staging protests before the Chief Minister’s chamber in the Assembly supporting them.

The former Minister also found fault with Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka for blaming her for him losing the status of Leader of Opposition during the previous BRS regime, and advised him to aim for the Chief Minister’s post. She reminded that many sitting MLAs shifted parties including Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. She lashed out at Revanth Reddy for dragging the name of MLC K Kavitha in the Assembly, in her absence. Citing the Chief Minister’s remarks against her, she asked whether he too would drag Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to Jubilee Bus Stand as the latter was trusting him.

Former Minister and MLA V Sunitha Laxma Reddy echoed these sentiments, describing the humiliation they faced in the Legislative Assembly as painful. “We stood in the House for four and a half hours, but the ruling party did not respond and mocked us. Rapes against women has increased, and peace and security have deteriorated,” she said, adding that even junior Congress MLAs were being disrespectful towards them.

MLA Kova Lakshmi said the Congress government’s actions contradict its rhetoric of supporting women, citing the chief Minister’s disparaging remarks towards women MLAs. She demanded an unconditional apology from the Chief Minister and the Deputy chief Minister, insisting on the government’s immediate action to address women’s safety.