# Congress MLA Malreddy Ranga Reddy Faces Backlash After Grabbing Student Hand on Telangana Bus

> A viral clip showing 70-year-old Congress MLA Malreddy Ranga Reddy grabbing a female student's hand aboard a Telangana state bus has triggered intense political outrage from BJP and BRS, while the lawmaker claims he was merely balancing himself on a curve.

**Type:** article · **Category:** Telangana · **Published:** 2026-10-08 · **Source:** TrendKia
**Canonical:** https://trendkia.com/en/telangana/telangana-men-chalati-basa-ke-bhitara-chhatra-ka-hatha-pakarane-para-ghire-congress-mla-malreddy-ranga-reddy-vipaksha-ne-manga-ist-44974 · **Language:** English
**Tags:** Telangana Politics, Malreddy Ranga Reddy, Congress MLA, Ibrahimpatnam, Mahalaxmi Scheme, Viral Video

A fresh political storm has erupted in Telangana after video footage surfaced showing 70-year-old Congress lawmaker Malreddy Ranga Reddy holding a young female student's hand inside a public transport vehicle. The legislator, who represents the Ibrahimpatnam constituency, was traveling aboard a state-run bus operating under the government's free transit initiative for women. The clip captures him conversing with commuting college students before grabbing the hand of one young woman and drawing her toward him, prompting her to immediately pull back. As the recording circulated across online platforms, opposition parties launched blistering attacks against the ruling party and the veteran politician.

## The Interaction Aboard the Free Transit Service
The encounter took place while the legislator was riding a state transport bus running under the Congress administration's flagship Mahalaxmi free bus travel scheme. During the journey, several female passengers engaged in conversation with the lawmaker to share their experiences with the program. The students explained that they had been commuting under this initiative for nearly a year, adding that the waiver of fares helped save them roughly 45,000 rupees every year. However, during this exchange, the video shows the MLA taking hold of a student's hand and pulling her closer. Visibly uncomfortable, the student pulled away instantly. The brief clip spread rapidly across social media, turning into a major focal point for political debate.

## Opposition Mounts Fierce Criticism Over Conduct
Reacting swiftly to the circulating footage, Bharatiya Janata Party National Social Media Co-Convener Arun Yadav shared the video publicly, questioning the 70-year-old lawmaker's deportment and labeling his actions improper. Yadav linked the controversy to past remarks made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Pune regarding the need to dismantle patriarchal structures. The opposition party challenged the state leadership, asking why a political organization that routinely champions women's rights and dignity remains completely silent regarding the personal conduct of its own elected representative.

Simultaneously, Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader R.S. Praveen Kumar adopted an equally stern position against the legislator. He questioned the justification for seizing a young woman's hand in transit and argued that such behavior directly violates the dignity of women. Demanding official accountability, the BRS leader appealed directly to the Telangana State Commission for Women and the Director General of Police to initiate immediate and stringent punitive proceedings against the lawmaker.

## Lawmaker Rebuts Allegations and Cites Loss of Balance
Facing widespread condemnation from political adversaries, Ibrahimpatnam MLA Malreddy Ranga Reddy categorically denied any wrongdoing, insisting that his intentions were entirely pure. The lawmaker maintained that he was interacting with the young commuters with genuine fatherly affection. Providing context to his journey, he stated that he had boarded the passenger bus at Bonguluru on October 6 following an official meeting at the District Collectorate.

According to the legislator, the bus was packed with passengers, and the commuting students were actively requesting him to arrange additional services along the route to ease severe overcrowding. He maintained that as the heavy vehicle negotiated a sharp road turn, he momentarily lost his physical balance and instinctively reached out to steady himself. He accused the BRS of manipulating normal footage and circulating an out-of-context narrative across digital channels to deliberately tarnish his public reputation.

## What this means for you
This controversy has intensified scrutiny over the conduct of elected officials and commuter safety inside public transit systems.

- **Across India:** Incidents involving public figures raise nationwide debates on gender dignity and the accountability of political leadership. It prompts citizens to question whether political parties enforce their stated women safety standards on their own lawmakers.
- **In Telangana:** Pressure will mount on the state administration to address heavy overcrowding under the Mahalaxmi free bus travel scheme. Daily female commuters can expect renewed scrutiny regarding route capacity and demands for additional buses.
- **Administrative response:** With petitions reaching the State Commission for Women and the DGP, official inquiries or legal notices may be initiated. This will determine how complaints of inappropriate public conduct are addressed under state law.
- **Political landscape:** Opposition parties will continue leveraging the video to challenge the ruling government on women empowerment credentials. This forces the administration to publicly justify and defend the decorum of its elected representatives.

## Why this happened
The controversy emerged when video footage showing an elected lawmaker holding a female student's hand inside a public transit bus was leaked onto digital networks. The occurrence has triggered conflicting explanations from opposing political factions.

- **Direct trigger:** While reviewing public transit feedback on October 6, the Ibrahimpatnam MLA grasped a student's hand during conversation, causing her to instantly pull away. Once the recording appeared online, opposition parties framed it as a serious breach of propriety.
- **Opposition stance:** Opposing leaders categorized the gesture as an affront to female dignity and cited contradictions with the ruling party's public rhetoric on women safety. Formal demands were filed with the Director General of Police and the Women's Commission seeking an official probe.
- **Lawmaker defense:** The MLA maintained that he boarded the transit bus at Bonguluru following a collectorate meeting and simply lost physical balance when the vehicle turned a sharp corner. He asserted that his conversation was driven strictly by parental affection and accused rivals of malicious editing.

## Questions & Answers

### 1. Who is the lawmaker involved in the controversy and which constituency does he represent?
The lawmaker is 70-year-old Malreddy Ranga Reddy, who serves as the Congress MLA representing the Ibrahimpatnam constituency in Telangana.

### 2. Where and under what circumstances did the incident occur?
The incident occurred inside a state-run bus operating under the government's Mahalaxmi free transit scheme while the MLA was interacting with students.

### 3. What details did the students share about the transit initiative during the interaction?
The students stated that they had been using the free bus scheme for nearly a year, which saved them approximately 45,000 rupees annually.

### 4. What actions did the opposition parties demand following the incident?
The BJP questioned the MLA's propriety, while BRS leader R.S. Praveen Kumar demanded strict action from the Telangana Women's Commission and the DGP.

### 5. What explanation did MLA Malreddy Ranga Reddy offer regarding the viral clip?
The MLA claimed he spoke with fatherly affection and reached out only to steady his balance as the bus rounded a curve, accusing rivals of misrepresenting the footage.

---
_TrendKia — Har trend, sabse pehle.. Machine-readable view; canonical HTML at the URL above._