BRS MLA Kaushik Reddy arrested, party terms it political vendetta

Padi Kaushik Reddy was arrested in connection with a criminal case, prompting sharp condemnation from BRS leaders; KT Rama Rao accusies the Congress government of silencing dissent and resorting to Emergency-era tactics. Court grants BRS MLA conditional bail

Hyderabad: Huzurabad MLA and BRS leader Padi Kaushik Reddy was arrested by Warangal Subedari police at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad on Saturday morning. He was later taken to Warangal for further proceedings. However, the Kazipet Railway Court rejected the petition by police to send him to judicial custody and granted him conditional bail.

The arrest was based on a complaint lodged by the wife of granite quarry businessman Manoj Reddy, who alleged that Kaushik Reddy had threatened her husband and demanded money. A case was registered against the MLA under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Four days prior to the arrest, Kaushik Reddy had moved the High Court seeking to quash the FIR.

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Following the arrest, senior BRS leaders including former ministers Errabelli Dayakar Rao, D Vinay Bhaskar, Challa Dharmareddy and a legal team rushed to Warangal and met Police Commissioner Sunpreet Singh. They requested the police to amend the sections invoked in the case. The Commissioner assured them that the matter would be reviewed in consultation with legal advisors.

Reacting sharply to the arrest, BRS working president KT Rama Rao called it a “blatant and undemocratic act” allegedly orchestrated on the directions of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.

“This is not law enforcement; it is a calculated conspiracy to silence dissent,” he said, adding that the Congress government was targeting Kaushik Reddy because he consistently questioned the government’s “corruption, ministerial misconduct and administrative failures”.

“Such cheap stunts will never shake our resolve or morale. This is nothing but desperation to divert attention from Revanth Reddy’s failure to fulfil electoral promises,” he said, drawing parallels to the Emergency era. “This so-called Indiramma Rajyam is suppressing voices of dissent in broad daylight,” he said, demanding Kaushik Reddy’s unconditional release.

“No matter how many false cases are filed, they won’t stand in court. BRS will continue to fight for the people,” he declared.

Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao also condemned the arrest, alleging that the Congress government had abandoned governance and was now indulging in politically motivated harassment. He said the government was targeting everyone, from farmers to elected representatives, with fabricated cases. “We will expose your failures and deceitful tactics in the public domain,” he said.

Meanwhile, BRS MLC Dasoju Sravan accused Chief Minister Revanth Reddy of trying to curry favour with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu through “falsehoods and cheap political tricks”.