Group-I aspirants protest: Bandi Sanjay detained during “Chalo Secretariat” rally

The situation became more volatile as the police, after multiple requests for Sanjay to leave, intervened when he attempted to lead the protesters to the Secretariat.

Hyderabad: A day after the police used force and resorted to lathi charge on the Group -1 aspirants, who took out a rally demanding that the government reschedule the mains exams, the aspirants continued their protest on Saturday and held a massive protest at Ashok Nagar cross road.

The Ashok Nagar area, which houses numerous coaching centres and residential premises with aspirants preparing for competitive exams, started swelling with aspirants gathering in large numbers from early morning. Police forces moved in as information trickled in that the sudents could be taking out rallies. Tensions arose as the policemen began preventing them from leaving their hostels. As arguments ensued and tempers soared, police resorted to cane charges on the job aspirants at the hostel rooms trying to stop them from joining the protest.

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However, many managed to sneak past the policemen and reach the main centre, where they joined the rest of the protesters. Many women aspirants complained that police thrashed them indiscriminately and also that they were detained for more than 12 hours. Despite efforts by police to control the crowd, the protest intensified, leading to a standoff. The job aspirants have been staging protests for several days, demanding rescheduling of the Group-1 mains examination and the cancellation of the GO 29.

Tension escalated further after the arrival of Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay, who joined the protestors in a sit-in on the road demanding justice. He inquired from the job aspirants about their issues and voiced his solidarity with their cause. He led the protesters towards the secretariat, however, the march to the secretariat was abruptly halted by police at Ambedkar Statue on Tank Bund, leading to an intense confrontation. Sanjay expressed his anger at the police and emphasized that he intended to discuss the job aspirant’s grievances directly with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.

The situation became more volatile as the police, after multiple requests for Sanjay to leave, intervened when he attempted to lead the protesters to the Secretariat. He was detained, preventing further escalation as the protest continued, with demands for justice and the repeal of the contentious order. He told the officer that he was going to the secretariat to meet Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and explain to him about the need to reschedule the Group-I examination. A protesting Sanjay was whisked away in a vehicle and “dropped” at the state BJP office in Nampally.

The protestors managed to reach the Ambedkar statue situated at the Tank Bund and tried to disrupt the traffic. After Sanjay was detained, the protestors got scattered and few of them rushed towards the secretariat, but they were stopped by the security personnel and shifted some of them to different police stations.

Earlier, Sanjay criticised the police for their lathicharge on the job aspirants and lashed out at the police. “How did you get the authority to break into hostels and beat women without looking at them? “Who gave you the authority to force women candidates out and detain them for hours,” argued the union Minister.

The future of 31,000 candidates was at stake due to the apathy of the government towards them and that the job aspirants were already going through a tough time with the unconstitutional manner in which the exam was being conducted, he said.

Meanwhile, two days before over 31,000 candidates are set to appear for the Telangana Public Service Commission (TGPSC) Group-I mains examination, apprehensions over the fate of the examination continued to plague the aspirants. They are filled with anxiety, frustration and despair over the uncertainty of the examination.

A single bench of the Telangana High Court has given a green signal to the TGPSC on October 16 to conduct the examination, which has now been challenged by the aspirants in the division bench of the HC, giving an air of uncertainty over the examination, which has turned out to be distressing for the aspirants.