Hyderabad: Police assault women legislators at Assembly during BRS protest

The BRS accused police of manhandling its women legislators during a confrontation at the Telangana Assembly gate on Monday. The party alleged that several leaders were injured, demanded action against those responsible and said it would complain to the Speaker.

Hyderabad: The BRS accused the Congress government of high-handedness against its legislators, particularly women MLAs, after a confrontation with police at the Assembly gate on the opening day of the session on Monday. They demanded action against the police personnel involved in the incident and said the party would lodge a formal complaint to the Speaker on the issue.

Ahead of the monsoon session, the BRS MLAs were prevented from entering the Assembly for wearing black T-shirts as a mark of protest against the Congress government’s failure to deliver electoral promises even after 1,000 days in power. The police reportedly misbehaved with the women legislators during their arrest. The police allegedly pulled BRS MLA V Sunitha Laxma Reddy by her saree while preventing BRS legislators from entering the Assembly premises. She also sustained injuries on her feet after the police trampled on them.

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Former Minister and BRSLP deputy leader P Sabitha Indra Reddy was also allegedly manhandled by police, who reportedly pulled her by her hair and dragged her away despite her being a woman legislator.

Sunitha Laxma Reddy said police grabbed the women legislators by their hands, pushed them to the ground and stepped on them. Breaking down in tears, she questioned how police could treat women legislators in such a manner. She said the BRS would lodge a complaint against the police and demanded action against those responsible.

Learning about the police misbehaviour with the women legislators, BRS working president KT Rama Rao confronted the police and warned them to perform their duty but not to overdo it. He questioned the double standard over black-shirt protests, asking how Congress leader Rahul Gandhi could wear black in Parliament while BRS legislators were stopped from entering the Telangana Assembly in black T-shirts. He demanded that the Speaker should give written instructions if there was a rule prohibiting them from wearing such clothes.

BRSLP deputy leader T Harish Rao also condemned the police action, calling it a black day. After he fell during the jostling, police allegedly stepped on his hand. He shared videos of the incident on X and tagged Rahul Gandhi, alleging “Emergency rule and police rule in Telangana.”

Former Minister T Srinivas Yadav said arresting legislators outside the Assembly after asking them to attend the session was undemocratic. He questioned the need to deploy large numbers of police and arrest BRS members before they could enter the House. He said the party would continue to fight for public issues despite the arrests.

BRS general secretary RS Praveen Kumar condemned the police misbehaviour and assault on BRS women legislators, terming it an attack on all women citizens of Telangana. He demanded action against those responsible.

Meanwhile, BRS leaders said several party legislators and leaders were injured during the confrontation. Doctors at Telangana Bhavan treated KT Rama Rao, former Minister G Jagadish Reddy, MLA K Sanjay, MLCs Yadav Reddy and Shambhipur Raju for their injuries. Though some of them sought to visit NIMS for better treatment, the police, who were deployed in large numbers at Telangana Bhavan, reportedly prevented them from leaving, leading to a heated argument between the BRS activists and the police.