Hyderabad: A live election debate on a television channel in Hyderabad on Wednesday turned ugly when BRS MLA K. P. Vivekananda attacked BJP candidate K. Srisailam Goud. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA from Quthbullapur constituency in Greater Hyderabad lost his cool and grabbed Goud by the throat after the latter made some insulting remarks.
The MLA was enraged when Goud called him a land grabber. This led to a heated debate and when the BJP candidate made some remarks, Vivekananda rushed towards him, grabbed him by the throat and pushed him. The show host and police intervened to separate the two leaders. The incident triggered utter chaos as supporters of both the leaders present broke the barricades and threw chairs to rush towards the dais.
The police had a tough time in controlling the situation as both groups tried to attack each other. A Telugu television channel had organised the debate among key contestants in the constituency. The video of the incident went viral on social media. The BJP condemned the attack on its MLA and said this shows the frustration in BRS that they are losing to the BJP.
Union Minister and state BJP President G. Kishan Reddy has condemned the attack on BJP candidates by BRS MLA. He alleged that BRS MLAs who were looting crores of rupees by grabbing lands in and around Hyderabad were behaving like street rowdies. Kishan Reddy said the BRS MLA resorted to a physical attack as he had no answer to the questions of Goud.
Elections for the 119-member Telangana Assembly are scheduled on November 30. IANS
