Telangana Assembly session turns stormy as BRS legislators stopped at House gates

The Telangana Assembly session began amid high drama as police stopped BRS legislators from entering the House, leading to clashes and allegations of assault. The session was later disrupted by BJP protests, while the government sought action against BRS MLC Tata Madhu.

Hyderabad: The Telangana Assembly session began on a stormy note on Monday with the police preventing the main opposition party, the BRS members, from entering the House ostensibly because they were clad in black shirts with slogans painted on them. The physical prevention took an ugly turn with overzealous policemen, both in uniform and in plainclothes, manhandling and trampling them.

The BRS legislators wore black clothes to protest against the failure of the Congress government even after 1,000 days of its rule, but the policemen did not allow them to enter the premises. Heated arguments ensued, with the BRS leaders asking the policemen to show written orders from the Speaker. The police officers manning the gates remained stubborn and things reached such a stage that BRSLP deputy leader T Harish Rao removed his black shirt. The party working president and MLA KT Rama Rao‘s pleas to allow them inside the Assembly, citing that Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi wore a black shirt in Parliament, fell on deaf ears.

The stand-off continued for some time and the police officers suddenly became aggressive and tried to physically lift the BRS legislators. This led to jostling and more heated arguments, during which some policemen manhandled the legislators. With the policemen targeting the most vocal leaders KT Rama Rao, Harish Rao, Jagadish Reddy and others, they were pushed down and trampled, and the legislators later alleged that they were abused as well.

Meanwhile, the women legislators too were targets of the unbridled police aggression. Over a dozen personnel caught hold of former home minister and Maheshwaram MLA Sabitha Indra Reddy by her hair and dragged her away, even as scores of video cameras recorded the police action. Interestingly, the police high-handedness continued even after Hyderabad police commissioner VC Sajjanar and Additional DGP Mahesh Bhagwat rushed to the Assembly.

Narsapur MLA Sunitha Laxma Reddy too had a shocking experience when the police caught hold of the ‘pallu’ of her saree and dragged her. A visibly shaken Sunitha Laxma Reddy broke down while her colleagues tried to console her. The ruckus continued for over 30 minutes before the BRS legislators were bundled into police vans and taken to their party office, Telangana Bhavan in Banjara Hills. High drama continued at the party office too as the MLAs, who received first aid, tried to rush Jaadish Reddy to NIMS for treatment of the injuries he sustained. Policemen in large numbers initially prevented the cars from exiting the building.

Meanwhile, the House assembled at 10.15 a.m. without the main opposition party members, but pandemonium broke out as the BJP members did not allow the Question Hour to continue. The BJP had served an adjournment motion on the issue of 22-A prohibited lands. The government’s assurance that it could be discussed under short notice subsequently did not cut ice with the placard-carrying BJP members, who began their protest. They moved into the well, shouting slogans seeking a judicial probe, prompting Speaker G Prasad Kumar to adjourn the House for 15 minutes, but the House was reconvened only around 2.15 p.m.

The BJP members took up the issue again, but Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy intervened to assure a proper discussion on the issue. By this time, the treasury benches had apparently chalked out a counter-strategy to turn the tables on the main opposition. Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu told the House that one of the BRS MLCs had abused the Speaker using intemperate language. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy too joined them to allege that the ‘disparaging remarks’ were made against the Dalit Speaker at the behest of Leader of Opposition K Chandrasekhar Rao and sought the latter’s apology in addition to the disqualification of BRS MLC Tata Madhu. The BJP and MIM benches too sought action against the MLC.

Tata Madhu later explained at a press conference that he had blurted out the words in anger after policemen manhandled him, tried to pull his pants and punched him in the stomach. He said he was withdrawing his words if someone construed them to be offensive. In the meanwhile, SC/ST legislators of the BRS, Kova Lakshmi, Vijayudu, JA Anil Jadhav and Manik Rao, lodged a complaint with SC/ST Commission chairman Bakki Venkataiah, alleging that they were abused, intimidated, humiliated and subjected to violence. The Commission had ordered the DGP to inquire into the complaint and submit a report within two days.