Nizamabad (Telangana) [India], May 4 : After a purported video went viral where the Congress Nizamabad candidate Jeevan Reddy allegedly slapped a woman, the victim said on Saturday that she told Reddy that she doesn't have a house and pension to which he assured her by tapping on her cheek.
"I neither have a house nor do I get a pension. I told him (Nizamabad Congress MP candidate Jeevan Reddy) to please show mercy on me. Then he assured me by saying," Dorasani (queen) you would get it" by keeping his hand on my cheek".
"But by showing that I was slapped, isn't this defaming me?" she further questioned.
On being asked about the incident, the Congress candidate told ANI, "It was lovely, it was lovely."
The incident occurred in a village in the Armur Assembly segment of the Nizamabad constituency when the Congress leader was campaigning.
When the Congress MP was interacting with people during campaigning, a woman told him that this time she would vote for flower (BJP) in the 2024 election as she was devoid of pension and house which was promised by the Congress.
The Congress candidate assured him by putting his hand on her cheek assuring her that she would get but the video went viral allegedly that she was slapped.
Notably, In the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat, Congress candidate Jeevan Reddy is in electoral fray against BJP's sitting MP Arvind Dharmapuri.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Dharmapuri Arvind of the BJP won the seat. He secured 45.22 per cent of the votes, defeating the TRS candidate, Kalvakuntla Kavitha, who secured 38.6 per cent of the votes.
Meanwhile, In the wake of heatwave conditions prevailing in the state, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has extended the polling hours in various assembly segments of Telangana for the Lok Sabha elections scheduled on May 13.
According to the Election Commission, the new timing for the polling is from 7 am to 6 pm, extended from the earlier 7 am to 5 pm schedule. The decision by the EC has been taken to increase voters' participation.
Voting for all 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, including Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency, will be held in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha polling on May 13; the results will be announced on June 4.