N Ramchander Rao
Hyderabad: Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president N Ramchander Rao started a 48-hour hunger strike demanding the immediate release of pending fee-reimbursement dues for students across the state.
Rao began the protest at the Telangana BJP headquarters in Hyderabad after police denied permission to hold the hunger strike at Dharna Chowk.
The BJP has launched the protest under the banner “Feesula Bakayi–BJP Ladayi”, demanding the release of Rs 15,000 crore in pending fee-reimbursement dues.
Addressing supporters at the hunger strike camp, Rao accused the Congress government of failing to clear the pending fee-reimbursement amounts.
He said the delay was creating difficulties for students and affecting their ability to obtain certificates, pursue higher education and seek job opportunities.
Rao claimed that the issue could affect nearly 40 lakh students in Telangana and said the BJP would continue its protest until the pending dues are released.
He said the BJP’s youth wing, BJYM, would continue the campaign on the issue.
Rao said BJP representatives had visited colleges across Telangana and collected signatures from around five lakh students who, according to the party, expressed their anger over the pending fee payments.
He also accused the Congress government of failing to fulfil promises made to young people before coming to power.
Rao alleged that the government had announced after a High Court reprimand that Rs 2,000 crore would be released as an advance for the next year, but claimed that the promise was not fulfilled.
He also referred to protests by polytechnic students and alleged that police used a lathi-charge against them.
Rao said the BJP’s campaign over the pending fee-reimbursement dues would continue until the issue is resolved.
The hunger strike received support from students, parents, educational institutions, faculty members, advocates and BJP leaders.
Students from several streams, including engineering, degree, polytechnic, medical, Unani, Ayurveda and homoeopathy, attended the protest.
Representatives from Osmania University, Kakatiya University, Palamuru University, Telangana University and Satavahana University also participated in the protests. They said that the fee-reimbursement issue affects not only students but also parents, college managements, teaching staff and non-teaching employees.
President of the Degree College Association, Suryanarayana Reddy, along with representatives of colleges and universities, spoke about the difficulties educational institutions are facing due to unpaid fee reimbursements.
Several BJP MPs, MLAs, MLCs and senior party leaders visited the protest site and expressed solidarity with Rao.
Those who attended included BJP MPs DK Aruna, Raghunandan Rao, Dharmapuri Arvind, Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, R Krishnaiah and Rekha Sharma.
BJLP leader Aleti Maheshwar Reddy, Legislative Council leader AVN Reddy, MLCs Malka Komuraiah and Anji Reddy, MLA Venkata Ramana Reddy and other BJP leaders also attended the programme.
Former MLA Bodiga Shobha, BJP state general secretaries Dr N Gautam Rao, Veerender Goud and Vemula Ashok, along with BJP state chief spokesperson and media in-charge NV Subhash, were also present.
Dr K Laxman also expressed support for the hunger strike.
This post was last modified on August 25, 2026 12:15 pm