MLA Nannapuneni Narender faces heat from weavers community

Warangal: Warangal East MLA Nannapuneni Narender appears to be in the soup after a photo in which he put his legs on a maggam (floor loom) went viral, drawing criticism from Padmashali community. It may be noted here that Padmashali caste is one of the three highly populated communities in the Warangal East Assembly constituency.

It's said that the photograph was taken during Munugodu by-election campaign. While the BJP leaders allege that it shows the arrogance of Narender, the TRS cadres played it down as a morphed photo. A section of the weavers community led by the BJP staged a protest near Gopalaswamy Temple in the city, demanding an apology from Narender.

They also tried to burn the effigy of the MLA; however the police thwarted their effort. During the protest, BJP Warangal East in-charge Kusuma Sathish Babu accused Narender of being arrogant towards the Padmashali community. He urged all the Padmashali elders to come under one roof irrespective of their party affiliations to protect the interests of the community. He appealed to the community leaders to condemn the MLA's behaviour.

On the other hand, another section of the weavers community having allegiance to the TRS accused the BJP of spreading misinformation. They said that the MLA met handloom weavers in Munugodu constituency as part of TRS working resident KT Rama Rao's call to take up a postcard campaign against the Central Government demanding waiver of GST on handloom products.