Did Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy deliberately insult Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on Monday? Did they want to send a message to the people that he is a weak Chief Minister and that they are more powerful than him? Politically, the two may be senior to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. But shouldn’t the office of the Chief Minister at least be given the minimum respect? After returning to Hyderabad from his foreign tour, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy held a media conference at the Secretariat on Monday evening. He mainly spoke about the Centre denying permission for his official visit to the United States. Ministers Tummala Nageswara Rao, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, Seethakka and several other ministers attended the media conference. At the same press conference, two seats had also been kept vacant for Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Uttam Kumar Reddy. Even after Chief Minister Revanth Reddy started the press conference, the two did not arrive, and the ministers who were already there occupied those seats.
What is strange is that Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Uttam Kumar Reddy attended the press conference only after Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had already started it. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, who had already begun speaking, took a short break and then continued his press conference. There may be differences between ministers politically, but senior leaders as well as IAS officers are of the opinion that it is not at all appropriate for Bhatti and Uttam to behave in this manner while the Chief Minister’s press conference was being telecast live. The video has now gone viral on social media. A senior IAS officer commented that such practices are not seen anywhere except in the Congress party. Revanth Reddy is already in a difficult situation following strong criticism against him and his family by Susmitha Patel, the daughter of Minister Konda Surekha. At this juncture, the way the two senior ministers behaved has also become a major topic of discussion. There are comments that the entire episode appears to have been done deliberately.