Hyderabad: Telangana BJP chief and union minister G Kishan Reddy, and several others from the saffron party were detained by the police at Dharna Chowk in the city on Wednesday, September 13, during the party’s 24-hour hunger strike protest against ‘injustice’ meted out to unemployed youth by the BRS government in the state.
The development led to tension at the protest site leading to intense sloganeering and a tussle between the police and the saffron party cadre.
According to the BJP, Kishan Reddy was hurt and fell unconscious during the tussle. After an intense struggle, the police detained him and took him away from the protest site.
At 9:05 pm, the party said that the Telangana BJP chief was undergoing medical tests by a team of doctors after the incident.
“Arrested by the KCR govt. – For protesting against the failed promises on employment and youth,” he said in a post on X.
BJP national general secretary and in charge of Telangana Tarun Chugh, Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar, and several state leaders of the party took part in the protest in the morning.
In a press release, Tarun Chugh strongly condemned the ‘illegal arrest’ of Kishan Reddy.
“The BJP has taken all permissions for the fast, and it has been going on peacefully. The fast evoked tremendous response with huge participation of the youth and students who have been simmering with anger against the KCR government which failed to conduct a single exam for recruitment cleanly nor has been able to fill a single job,” he said.
Chugh further said that the detention was out of a ‘frustration’ towards the ‘huge response’ to the BJP. “Unable to digest its success, KCR deployed his police to disrupt the fast,” he remarked.
“It is baffling that police used brutal force at the time of the arrest, unmindful of the fact that G Kishan Reddy is a union minister and Z grade protectee. Kishan Reddy fell unconscious, but the police were not conscious of it,” he alleged.
Chugh stated that under the ‘draconian regime’ of chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, “even peaceful fasts are disallowed.”
“They used force on Kishan Reddy and indiscriminately beat up workers in which many workers, including women, sustained injuries. It is evident that KCR is rattled. The way he disrupted the fast is a sign of it,” he said.
Chugh said that the youth and students of Telangana will “dislodge this government”, and the BJP “undeterred by the state-sponsored atrocities using police as tools” will continue to stand by the unemployed.
