Bodige Shobha had to wait at the toll booth, where there was a long queue.
In yet another instance of politicians demanding special treatment, a lawmaker and her husband in Telangana were caught on camera threatening, assaulting and even chasing a toll collector down the highway in Timmapur. The couple allegedly wanted to skip the long queue at the toll booth. A video of the incident has been widely shared since last evening.
Bodige Shobha, the lawmaker of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti, was driving down to Hyderabad when her vehicle was obstructed by the long queue at the toll plaza at Renigunta village. The lawmaker had allegedly demanded that as a representative of the people, her vehicle should be allowed to pass first. But when that was not allowed, she apparently flew into a rage.
The CCTV video from the toll plaza shows her, her husband and two armed securitymen aggressively arguing with the toll collector. Subsequently, her husband is seen chasing the man down the road.
The lawmaker, however, has denied any misbehaviour. No complaint has been filed in this regard, the police said. "So we have not filed a case," Y Krishna Reddy, a senior officer of the area, was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.
Ms Shobha, 42, a Dalit first-time legislator, represents the reserved constituency of Choppadandi in in Karimnagar district. When NDTV called her to know her version of the events, her husband said no one had lodged a police complaint, "So why are you still pursuing this?". Ms Shobha asked to be spared, saying she did not want to answer any questions.
In August, the son of another TRS leader had attacked toll plaza employees after they were asked to pay the Rs 35 toll tax. Manish Goud, the son of lawmaker Ram Mohan Goud, and his friends were caught on camera at Kadgal toll plaza, about 80 km from Hyderabad, brandishing a knife at an injured toll plaza worker. When the other employees of the toll plaza came out, they ran away. They were arrested later.