The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Thursday suspended its MLA Koneti Adimoolam after a woman leader of the party accused him of sexual assault.
Mr Adimoolam is the MLA from the Satyavedu constituency.
The party suspended him hours after a video surfaced on social media in which he was seen misbehaving with a woman in a hotel. She alleged that the MLA was sending her vulgar messages on the phone during night hours.
Taking serious note of the allegation, TDP state President Palla Srinivasa Rao issued a statement, announcing the suspension of the MLA.
Earlier, addressing a press conference in Tirupati, the woman leader of the TDP revealed the video evidence of the MLA's alleged misbehaviour with her. She claimed that the video was shot through a pen camera. She said that she also wrote to TDP President and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, and TDP General Secretary and state Minister Nara Lokesh to expel Adimoolam from the party.
The woman leader said she had earlier opposed giving Mr Adimoolam a ticket in the recent Assembly elections after he defected from the YSR Congress Party to the TDP. However, when the party decided to field him, she accepted the decision and campaigned for him.
She alleged that after taking her contact details during party events, Mr Adimoolam began making inappropriate advances toward her by sending messages. She alleged that last month, he called her to a hotel room in Tirupati, where he sexually assaulted her. She claimed that the MLA threatened to kill her and her family if she disclosed the abuse. She also alleged that he raped her on three separate occasions in the same hotel.
The TDP leader said she wanted to expose Mr Adimoolam and when he called her to the hotel, she carried a pen camera and recorded the abuse. She also alleged that Mr Adimoolam raped multiple women and targeted those who refused to comply with his demands.
Mr Adimoolam has denied the allegations and claimed that it was a morphed video. He said it was the conspiracy of his rivals within the party to defame him.
