HYDERABAD: A controversy sparked after a video went viral accusing Ibrahimpatnam MLA Malreddy Ranga Reddy of inappropriately holding on to a girl student on a moving bus of the Telangana state road transport corporation on Tuesday.The incident took place aboard a RTC bus as the Congress MLA, who boarded the bus, was speaking to the women passengers to assess the impact of the state’s flagship Mahalakshmi scheme as part of which women are allowed to travel free of cost in RTC buses in the state.The 70-year-old MLA, however, insisted that it is inappropriate to distort a friendly and affectionate interaction with young women who are like his daughters and that he had boarded the bus to assess the impact of the free bus travel scheme for women.During the trip, the Congress MLA engaged in conversation with women and held on to a girl student standing in the bus, who mentioned that the free bus travel scheme had saved her Rs 45,000 annually on her college commute.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. I hold immense respect for women and the young women in the bus were like my daughters,” Malreddy Ranga Reddy said while responding to the incident.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 mentioned that when students approached him, he chatted with them affectionately, just as he would with his own children. 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. He called for a complaint to be registered under Section 354 for outraging the modesty of a woman. “DGP Women Safety, @TelanganaDGP. Where are the SHE teams here? Take a complaint from the RTC conductor and book under 354 IPC. Both BJP and Congress are competing with each other in insulting women,” he alleged in a post on X.
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