Hyderabad: Telangana Police on Monday detained senior BRS leader and former MLA Patnam Narender Reddy when he was heading to Kosgi in Narayanpet district to console the family of a deceased party worker.
Kosgi is part of Kodangal, the Assembly constituency represented by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.
The police action was apparently in view of the Chief Minister’s presence in Kodangal. Monday is the third day of his visit to the constituency.
Narender Reddy, a former MLA from Kodangal, lodged a strong protest when police stopped him at the Baharpet crossroads in Parigi.
“What kind of people’s government is this? When our party leader, an activist, dies, will you stop people from going to pay their last respects?” he asked the police officers.
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader accused the Revanth Reddy government of acting vindictively against activists.
Meanwhile, BRS Working President K. T. Rama Rao has condemned what he called the illegal arrest of Narender Reddy, who was on his way to Kosgi to console the family of a deceased party worker and attend the funeral. He said this was a testament to the undemocratic and autocratic attitude of the Congress government.
“What was the need to arrest a leader who was simply going to offer support to the family of a party worker in distress? Has standing by a grieving family become a crime under this so-called ‘Indiramma Rajyam’,” asked Rama Rao.
The BRS leader said that the Congress government, which came to power promising ‘people’s governance’ (Praja Palana), is now trampling upon democratic rights and stifling the voices of opposition leaders.
“They have turned the act of intimidating the opposition—through illegal arrests and coercive measures—into their primary mode of governance. The BRS will not be cowed by such vindictive actions of the Congress government. Our struggle on behalf of the people and our party workers will continue,” said KTR.
He demanded that Narender Reddy must be released immediately and unconditionally.
BRS Legislative Party Deputy Leader and former minister Patlolla Sabitha Indra Reddy also condemned the arrest of Patnam Narender Reddy:
“It is highly unjust and undemocratic that the police intercepted and arrested Patnam Narender Reddy at the Baharpet crossroads in Parigi while he was on his way to console the family of a deceased party worker in Kosgi and attend the funeral. What compelled the government to arrest a leader who was merely going to offer condolences?” she asked.
She said that the Congress government, which came to power boasting of “people’s governance” (and promising an end to the era of “barricades”, has now made its primary agenda to silence the opposition in the state. “Today, across Telangana, one sees only the suppression of dissenting voices, the illegal arrest of opposition leaders and autocratic crackdowns,” the BRS MLA said.
(IANS)
