Unidentified miscreants, ransacked the residence of former Kovur MLA Nallapureddy Prasanna Kumar Reddy on Monday night.

The attackers reportedly barged into the residence, damaged the furniture and left in a huff, not before issuing a warning to the former MLA’s mother N. Srilakshmi, who was alone at home at that time.

The attack came in the backdrop of the reported derogatory remark allegedly made by Mr. Prasanna Kumar Reddy at a party meeting early on Monday against the current MLA and TTD Trust Board member Vemireddy Prashanthi Reddy, also the wife of Member of Parliament Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy.

At a meeting of party workers, the former MLA had reportedly talked ill of Ms. Prashanthi, though she is distantly related to him. The talk came as a rude shock not only to the people of the constituency, but also to the party workers and the media persons present at the venue.

It may be recalled that ahead of the General Elections 2024, Mr. Prasanna Kumarr Reddy had made a similar personal remark against Ms. Prashanthi Reddy, when the two were pitted against each other in Kovur. This time, Mr. Prasanna Kumar Reddy insisted that he stood by his comment and would never go back on his statement.

After filing a complaint personally with the Superintendent of Police by naming the members of Vemireddy family and their followers, Mr. Prasanna Kumar Reddy however expressed displeasure at the department’s functioning and said he had no faith on getting justice on this issue.

Prashanthi turns emotional

Meanwhile, Ms. Prashanthi Reddy turned emotional against the comments made against her and said it amounted to ‘character assassination’. She said she would file a defamation case against him and also take the issue to the National Commission for Women (NCW).

She however denied any role in the attack on Mr. Prasanna’s residence and said her party, which had values as its foundation, would never encourage such attacks.

Party workers took exception to the ‘below the belt’ remark and staged a demonstration in Kovur against the alleged cheap behaviour on Tuesday.

Nellore Rural MLA Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy expressed solidarity with Ms. Reddy and demanded a public apology from Mr. Prasanna. While maintaining that the TDP would never encourage attacks, he said the attack on Mr. Prasanna’s residence could have been resorted to by any of the beneficiaries of the Vemireddy family.