Congress leader Motha Rohit criticised BRS MLAs KTR and Harish Rao for their protest outside the Telangana Assembly. He demanded apologies, accusing them of disruptive behaviour and manhandling police after being denied entry for wearing protest T-shirts.
Congress Demands Apology for ‘Unacceptable Behaviour’
Congress leader Motha Rohit criticised Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs who were stopped by police from entering the Telangana Assembly while wearing protest T-shirts, demanding an immediate public apology from BRS Working President KT Rama Rao (KTR) and senior leader T. Harish Rao for unacceptable behaviour.
Speaking to ANI on Monday, Rohit pointed out that Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy repeatedly invited the opposition to raise public issues on the Assembly floor, but the BRS leaders allegedly opted for disruptive tactics instead. “They have been told that there is a law and a rule according to which you cannot enter the Assembly floor in a certain manner. If you have a sincere interest in people’s issues, you should come normally and raise those issues in the Assembly. The Chief Minister has continuously been saying, ‘Please come to the Assembly, please come to the floor of the Assembly, and raise your issues. We are here to answer; we are not going to run away,” he said.
Allegations of Misconduct
Rohit further accused BRS leaders KT Rama Rao and Harish Rao of exhibiting uncomfortable and unpolite behavior towards security officials and female police personnel deployed at the venue. He claimed that BRS’s Harish Rao removed his T-shirt when female police personnel were standing in front of him, while KTR allegedly manhandled the security officials. “Have you seen the behaviour of KTR and Harish Rao outside the Assembly? Harish Rao removed his shirt when women police personnel were standing in front of him, making them extremely uncomfortable. What kind of behaviour is this? You can clearly see in all the videos that KTR is openly abusing and manhandling police personnel. How dare KTR behave in this manner with the police? This is not what Telangana appreciates. This is not the behaviour that the people of Telangana want from their public representatives,” he said.
Demanding apologies from both BRS leaders, the Congress leader also criticised BRS MLC Tata Madhusudhan for allegedly using derogatory language against Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar. “We demand an open apology from KTR. We demand an open apology from Harish Rao. You can also see another senior member of the Legislative Council, Tata Madhusudhan, who openly abused the Speaker. We cannot even utter or repeat the word he used. Such words were used in front of the temple of democracy. Is this what KCR approves of?” he questioned.
“On behalf of the Congress Party and the people of Telangana, we demand that KTR immediately apologise. Harish Rao should immediately apologise. Otherwise, they do not deserve to come to the Assembly again,” he added.
BRS Leaders Detained Amid Tense Standoff
Meanwhile, tensions escalated at the Assembly gate as BRS legislators wearing black outfits argued with security personnel after being denied entry. Police subsequently detained KTR, Harish Rao and other BRS leaders and shifted them to local police stations.
The protest also led to a major traffic disruption outside the Telangana State Assembly, with a traffic jam lasting around 30 to 40 minutes as a large number of party workers and police personnel gathered at the spot.
Earlier on Monday, KTR, Harish Rao and other BRS leaders staged a protest at Gunpark against what they described as the Congress government’s failure during its 1,000 days in office. The protesting leaders wore black T-shirts carrying slogans such as “Congress failure in implementing guarantees” and “1,000 days of rule are a failure.” (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)