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Updated: Feb 22, 2019 09:46 IST

Telugu Desam Party whip Chintamaneni Prabhakar from Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district is at the centre of a storm once again after a video showing him making disparaging remarks against Dalits went viral on social media.

Prabhakar made the comments during a meeting in a colony of Scheduled Castes in his native Denduluru assembly segment some three months ago. But the video was widely circulated on WhatsApp and Facebook three days ago triggering a showdown between TDP and Yuvajana Sramika Rytu Congress (YSRC) party activists.

“Politics is our domain and posts are meant for us. Dalits will be caught in the crossfire if they get involved in politics,” Prabhakar is allegedly heard saying in the video at the meeting.

The Denduluru assembly segment has become the centre of a turf war between Prabhakar and YSRC’s probable MLA candidate Kotharu Abbayya Chowdary, both from the Kamma community, and the TDP leader’s comments that politics is a domain of upper castes are being viewed by his rivals in this context.

The TDP MLA led a group of his supporters to the superintendent of police M Ravi Prakash on Wednesday, accusing the YSRC leaders of morphing his pictures and spreading falsehood through the video.

The III-Town police in Eluru of West Godavari district registered a case and arrested a YSRC’s Dalit activist Katthula Ravi, holding him responsible for the video doing rounds, following a direction from the SP.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said on Thursday, after examining the video, that Prabhakar is innocent and it’s the “nefarious” act of the YSRC to tarnish the TDP’s image.

Prabhakar’s followers staged protests demanding stern action against the YSRC workers. The YSRC leaders staged a counter-protest targeting the superintendent of police for arresting Ravi allegedly at the behest of the TDP just for telling people that the ruling party’s legislator was insulting Dalits instead of punishing the guilty.

This is not the first time the TDP legislator has been in the news for his comments.

Prabhakar had come under criticism from government employees and opposition parties for allegedly assaulting a lady revenue officer D Vanajakshi in Krishna district in 2015, embarrassing the TDP government.

Jana Sena leader and actor Pawan Kalyan led a rally of protest in Denduluru in September 2018 seeking the dismissal of Prabhakar as a legislator for assaulting a Dalit worker.