Using media at the Secretariat and also assembly is easy for the politicians who don’t follow rules. Especially the former MPs and MLAs use the media at Secretariat and also the Assembly as they like. Here they need not send invites or make a call or spend a rupee for tea or snacks. it is like free for them and all the media is available at a single point.
V Hanumanth Rao has got the habit of just dashing down to CLP and addressing the media off hand and going away. Sankar Rao the former MLA also was using the media at CLP.But now he is not seen. MLC Sudhakar Reddy of congress is another person who almost uses the media on daily basis at CLP waxing eloquently on local, national and international subjects. Some of them consult media at the point and then get subjects for addressing the media.
Even the BJP leaders in Telangana depend on media all the time. They always claim that they will be coming to power in the state in the coming elections. Even this time the leaders are hopeful that they would come to power. Dattatreya is one leader from BJP who addresses media for everything. Venkaiah the other Union Minister also uses media whenever he comes to Hyderabad.Media calls them paper tigers.
Now It looks like Sena and Congress are competing with each other in abusing officers at public places. While Sena leader chose a plane, the congress leader chose the Assembly point but was stumped by the Police officer.
The Shiv Sena MP was triggering national outrage by using his slipper to beat an Air India official, AICC secretary V Hanumantha Rao, a former MP from Telangana, allegedly hurled casteist abuse at a police inspector while trying to storm into the “Media Point” in the state assembly.
Sudhakar, an inspector on bandobast duty, had told VHR only MLAs and MLCs were allowed to speak to the media in the designated area.
The officer, took to social media to express his angst and offered to quit to protest against the humiliation, a criminal case was lodged against the politician.
When VH was stopped by the cop, he warned him and ordered him to show him the rule book. “You people have made Dharna Chowk out of bounds for protesters and now I am being banned from entry into the Media Point.
Are we living in a democracy or a dictatorship? Who are you to stop me? I am secretary of the All India Congress Committee and I will definitely address reporters,” the former MP said.
The police officer pleaded that he was only informing the former MP about the rules and was not curbing his movement. He also saluted Hanumantha Rao.
Hanumantha Rao had courted controversy many times. He had targeted governor E S L Narasimhan in April last year, claiming that the governor’s frequent temple visits inconvenienced other devotees.He also talked against the CM KCR.
He had also said that when the President visits Tirumala, it is a dignified event, but the governor “roams” about without wearing a shirt.
Hanumantha Rao said the police officer’s threat to resign was politically motivated.But the media who were unable to avoid VHR all the time have now got a lollypop for them with the unruly behaviour of VHR. The police also should have prevented VH from entering the premises as he is not even an MLA now.
It is better if the media ignores leaders who just try to barge in and use them violating the rules and regulation. Then they will not come to such designated places.
U.Srinivas
Editor
