Union Minister for Tourism, Culture and Development of Northeast Region, G. Kishan Reddy, on Thursday staged a dramatic sit-in protest at the Outer Ring Road (ORR) near Tukkuguda as the police barred his convoy from proceeding towards Batasingaram. The minister, who is set to take charge as president of the BJP’s Telangana unit on Friday, intended to inspect the ongoing construction of two-bedroom houses for the economically underprivileged.
Amid heavy rain, the police halted Reddy’s convoy, citing the lack of requisite permissions for the visit. Undeterred, the minister, along with party MLA M. Raghunandan Rao, former MLA Ch. Ramachandra Reddy, and other party members, decided to stage the protest on the main road. Despite the efforts of Rachakonda Police Commissioner D. S. Chauhan to persuade him otherwise, Reddy remained steadfast in his demonstration.
“I am a Union Minister; do I not have the right to inspect a project site? Is this democracy or a police state? How can you arrest me or my party members for no reason? We are not here for any protest,” Reddy questioned the police officers.
According to a video tweeted by the minister, Reddy had to be lifted and taken to his official vehicle, which was later driven to the BJP party office in Nampally, with numerous vehicles from both sides following closely.
Speaking to the media at the party office, accompanied by senior leaders such as N. Indrasena Reddy, the Minister, who also holds the position of Secunderabad MP, criticised Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for ordering what he termed as “indiscriminate and illegal arrests” of his party leaders since the previous night, in a bid to prevent their visit to the two-bedroom housing construction site, according to The Hindu.
Reddy accused the state government of hiding behind a private firm instead of resolving the long-standing Dharani issues. He alleged that their intention was solely to inspect the abandoned construction site and bring attention to the government’s failure in fulfilling its promise of constructing two-bedroom houses for the poor.
“The government is feeling insecure, having ignored the interests of the poor for the last nine years,” he added.
The minister challenged the BRS government to construct 50 lakh houses for the poor and assured that he would take responsibility for securing funding from the Centre for the ambitious project.
The police’s actions received widespread condemnation from top BJP leaders, including former party chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Nizamabad MP D. Aravind, official spokespersons N.V. Subash, Rakesh Reddy, and several others.
Many prominent party figures, including former Ministers Eatala Rajender and D.K. Aruna, along with former MLC N. Ramchander Rao, were placed under house arrest, while others, including former MP Dr. B. Narasiah Goud and former MLA Ch. Ramachandra Reddy, were taken into preventive custody.