Prashanth Reddy slams Congress over arrest of BRS leaders

Former Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy alleged that the arrest of BRS leaders exposed the Congress government's claims and accused it of misusing the police to suppress the Opposition. He also criticised the Congress and BJP over alleged scams and unfulfilled electoral promises.

Hyderabad: Former Minister and Balkonda MLA Vemula Prashanth Reddy said the arrest of BRS leaders, including BRSLP deputy leader T Harish Rao, on Thursday exposed the hollowness of the claims made by the Congress Ministers. He said the Ministers, who challenged the BRS to a public debate, used the police to prevent the BRS leaders from confronting them before the people of Telangana.

“Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and his Ministers are habituated to challenge the BRS only to backtrack later under one pretext or another,” he said while speaking to mediapersons at Telangana Bhavan. He took a swipe at Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, alleging that issuing challenges and later withdrawing from them had become his political style. He recalled the latter’s earlier pledge to quit politics if defeated in the Kodangal Assembly constituency, only to contest later from the Malkajgiri Parliamentary constituency.

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Stating that the ruling Congress attempted to suppress the Opposition by misusing the police, the former Minister said governments resorted to arrests only when they lacked answers. He pointed out that while Harish Rao was arrested en route to Gun Park, BRS working president KT Rama Rao was prevented from leaving Telangana Bhavan.

Prashanth Reddy lashed out at the government for ignoring issues raised by BRS leader RS Praveen Kumar over alleged irregularities in residential school tenders. He stated that the Ministers were forced to respond only because of sustained pressure from the BRS leaders. Citing Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka’s decision to order a vigilance inquiry into the alleged disappearance of coal at Singareni, he said the move reflected the impact of the BRS campaign.

The former Minister took a dig at Union Minister Bandi Sanjay for shielding Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and the Congress leaders whenever they were in trouble, while not taking action on the BRS’ complaints related to the alleged AMRUT tender scam and coal controversy. He demanded that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also answer for the implementation of the party’s electoral guarantees, stating that he could not distance himself from the promises made to the people of Telangana.