Telangana district tops India, women make up 78% of informal workers

Telangana Police has registered three cases against BRS supporters for conducting "purification rituals" near the former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's farmhouse in Siddipet district, just hours after Dalit workers of the Congress protested in the area. This incident follows Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy's promise to probe "insults to and atrocities against Dalits" in the state, following comments from BRS MLCs Tata Madhusudan and Naveen Kumar Reddy that were seen as insults to the Assembly speaker, who is a Dalit.

The BRS has countered these allegations by claiming the images used by Congress leaders to accuse them were misleading and AI-generated. The Dalit protest involved a Dappu (drum) march, where turmeric water and milk were sprayed on roads by protesters who had walked to condemn the verbal abuse of Speaker G Prasad Kumar by BRS MLCs.

Additionally, the controversy has been fueled by alleged purification rituals in Uttarakhand, where Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, a Dalit, had addressed a rally. The first case was filed against Balaraju, a former BRS leader and Erravalli sarpanch, and 10 others for organizing the ritual, while the second and third cases were registered against other BRS supporters based on complaints from local villagers.

The police have collected forensic evidence, including the turmeric sprayed on the roads, and stated that more cases may be registered as allegations of similar rituals emerge across the state.