Warangal East MLA blamed for disrespecting weavers over morphed photograph

While the morphed photograph drew ire from the weavers community, Batthula Narayana, a weaver whom the MLA visited in Munugode constituency earlier this week, condemned the false campaign.

Hyderabad: In a futile attempt to counter the campaigns launched by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now Bharat Rashtra Samithi) against GST on handlooms, a photograph of Warangal East MLA Nannapuneni Narender was morphed to show as if he had kept his leg on a loom and disrespected the weavers community. The photograph was shared on social media by opposition parties including the BJP, with BSP Telangana president RS Praveen Kumar too reacting quite sharply to the photograph.

Even as the morphed photograph was shared by opposition parties, the weaver whom the MLA had visited and who is seen in the photograph with Narender, reacted. Batthula Narayana, the weaver condemned the false campaign and said the MLA was being accused of something he had not done. In a video message, Narayana declared that Narender came to visit his family to seek support for the postcard campaign and was in no way disrespectful towards him or the loom next to which he sat. Family members said the MLA had sat with his leg touching the loom due to space constraint, but never kept his leg on the loom.

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However, this fact is being ignored by Opposition leaders especially the BJP and the BSP who have also been sharing the morphed photograph on social media. Taking to Twitter, RS Praveen Kumar vowed to ‘strip down the MLA and punish him on the streets’ for being disrespectful towards the profession of the weavers community. He urged people not to tolerate such incidents.

However, Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation chairman Y Sathish Reddy ridiculed Praveen Kumar’s remarks and termed him an affiliate to the BJP for spreading its false propaganda. He slammed Praveen Kumar for making derogatory remarks against an elected representative based on a morphed photograph. He alleged that the former IPS officer was only serving the interests of the BJP under the guise of Dalit empowerment and it would be exposed soon.