Hyderabad, March 23 (IANS) Police detained Telangana BJP president N. Ramchander Rao and other leaders and activists on Monday when they tried to march towards the Assembly to demand that the Congress government implement its electoral promises.
The police detained BJP leaders at various places to foil the planned march to the Assembly.
The state BJP had given a call for laying siege to the Assembly to protest what it calls the government’s failure to implement six guarantees and other promises made in the elections.
Carrying BJP flags and raising anti-government slogans, the party leaders and workers tried to advance towards the Assembly but were stopped and detained by the police. Ramchander Rao was taken to Panjagutta Police Station.
Some BJP leaders visited the police station to express solidarity with Ramchander Rao.
Reacting strongly to detentions, Ramchander Rao remarked that it’s not ‘Praja Palana’ (people’s rule) in the state but ‘Indiramma Rajyam’ of 1975.
“Congress has once again exposed its anti-democratic mindset by trying to crush dissent and silence protest. I was arrested for standing up against the betrayal, deception, and cheating that the Congress government has inflicted on the people of Telangana by its false promises. The people have had enough,” the state BJP chief posted on ‘X’.
Rao said that the voice of protest can’t be stifled through coercion. “It is utterly reprehensible that the Congress government – having completely disregarded the promises made to the public – is now lashing out with unlawful arrests against the opposition parties that are questioning its failures,” he said, adding that the BJP will not be intimidated by such threats.
“Arrests and detentions will only serve to further strengthen our resolve to fight. Our righteous struggle – aimed at resolving public issues and holding the Congress accountable for its betrayal of trust – will continue relentlessly,” he added.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar has strongly condemned the arrest of Ramchander Rao and BJP workers.
He termed this a clear case of political vendetta. “Is raising a democratic protest on the six guarantees now a crime in Telangana? 27 months in power, yet Congress has failed to implement its promises. Instead of delivering, the government is pushing the state into debt with no intent to fulfil commitments,” he said.
He demanded immediate and unconditional release of Ramchander Rao and BJP workers, failing which the BJP will intensify its protest across the state. “People are being taken for granted, but we will continue to question Congress at every step until the 6 guarantees are implemented,” he added.
–IANS
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