Revanth under house arrest
Opposition Congress leaders including party state president and MP A. Revanth Reddy and legislature party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka were placed under house arrest in Hyderabad on Monday, ahead of the party’s proposed protests against the alleged `1,000 crore irregularities in e-auction of government lands at Kokapet.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee office bearers and other senior leaders were also put under house arrest at their residences on Sunday night and early hours of Monday. Huge numbers of police personnel were deployed and police vehicles were lined up at Revanth Reddy’s and other leaders' houses. The TPCC called for protests at Koka-pet land site alleging that the state had lost `1,000 crore in land sales. The Congress alleged that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and minister K. Taraka Rama Rao favoured their henchmen to get the government lands for cheaper prices resulting `1,000 crore loss to the state exchequer.
Against this backdrop, large contingents of police reached the houses of Congress leaders and put them on house arrest. TPCC working president and Sangareddy MLA T. Jayaprakash ‘Jagga’ Reddy, former minister Mohammad Ali Shabbir, former PCC president Ponnala Lakshmaiah and several frontal leaders of the party were arrested. The police also did not allow party activists to reach the houses of their leaders.
On the other hand, TPCC working president B. Mahesh Kumar Goud, Congress Kisan khet national vice president M. Kodanda Reddy, state unit president Anvesh Reddy and other leaders tried to reach Kokapet to stage a protest, but in vain. The police did not allow them to reach the Kokapet land site. However, a few Congress activists managed to reach Kokapet and put Congress flags.
Meanwhile, Revanth Reddy wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, saying that he was obstructed from discharging his duties as a Member of
Parliament by the Telangana police, at the instance of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.
“I was prevented from attending Parliament, which offends the parliamentary privileges during the progress of the session.
Permission of the Hon’ble Speaker is absolutely necessary to arrest a parliamentarian, particularly when it is a political arrest. Hence, I request your good self ’s involvement to enable me to attend Parliament, apart from proceeding against the authorities mentioned under parliamentary privileges”.
Congress MP and party Telangana state in-charge Manickam Tagore brought the issue of house arrest of Revanth Reddy to the notice of Lok Sabha Speaker on Monday. He said the Telangana government was implementing ‘Hitler Raj’. What democratic principles do Chandrasekhar Rao and his son, minister KTR want to follow? I condemn Revanth Reddy’s arrest and will raise this issue in Parliament,” he said.