Telangana Minister’s Quick CPR Saves IAS Officer’s Aide Amid Assembly Turmoil

It was an ordinary morning in the Telangana Legislative Assembly when the unexpected happened – Raju, the personal secretary of senior IAS officer Naveen Mittal, suddenly went down on the floor. The room fell silent, a few startled murmurs breaking the hush, and then Minister Vakiti Srihari, who happened to be nearby, sprang into action.

Without a second thought, Srihari knelt beside the unconscious man and began chest compressions, the kind of CPR taught in first‑aid courses but rarely performed on such a public stage. "He just started pressing, calling for help, and kept going until the medics arrived," a witness recalled, adding that the minister’s focus was palpable.

Paramedics rushed in within minutes, took over the resuscitation effort, and whisked Raju away in an ambulance for further treatment. The quick response, officials said, likely saved his life.

The incident unfolded against a backdrop of escalating political tension. The Assembly’s opening day had already turned prickly, with heated exchanges between the ruling Congress party and the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). That same day, a separate scuffle broke out between BRS leaders and officials on the premises, turning the session into a veritable battlefield of words and gestures.

In the aftermath, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka paid a visit to Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, expressing their solidarity and urging calm. Meanwhile, Saifabad police detained several BRS activists outside Narayanguda Police Station after two BRS MLCs – T Madhusudhan Rao (aka Tata Madhu) and N Naveen Kumar Reddy – were arrested for allegedly making inflammatory remarks about the Speaker.

While the political drama continues to unfold, the episode also reminded everyone present of a simple, human truth: in moments of crisis, a steady hand and a willingness to act can make all the difference.