Nagam Addresses Media About Attack

TDP MLA Nagam Janadhana Reddy, the centre of attention in the state since yesterday after clippings of him being viciously beaten and kicked by a mob in the Osmania University campus relentlessly occupied the airwaves, spoke today for the first time after the incident, and clearly put political expediency over personal emotions.

While he betrayed no illwill, anger or bitterness, instead saying that he and his party fully support separate statehood for Telangana, he did however say that it was a rebirth for him yesterday, since at one point he got breathless and was sure he was close to death.

He mentioned that several decades back he was in an accident where he fell 50 feet, and considered that a rebirth - and yesterday's incident was the second such. He said that the TDP stood for a separate Telangana - a specious claim considering that his boss Naidu has chosen to be off air for about 5 days now, making an exception only to empathize with Nagam - and that he and his colleagues will continue the fight.

The entire state, including KCR and the CM, has condemned the attack, and KCR has pointedly said that neither OU students nor TRS supporters had anything to do with the incident, and that it was the work of hired hoodlums. The OU students' JAC has apologized to Nagam, as did ex-Minister Komatireddy, who said that he made his statements before watching the clippings of the attack.

The state has initiated a formal CID inquiry into the attack to find out who the people were behind it, and sleuths have already been to the campus today to start investigations. A rowdy history-sheeter and a criminal lawyer have been identified so far.