Telangana police have become puppets of the Congress, says Balka Suman

A tense situation unfolded in Mancherial when BRS district president Balka Suman and Asifabad MLA Kova Lakshmi staged a sit-in against police officials at Kyathanpalli municipality. The leaders accused the police of siding with Congress, which they alleged was attempting to capture the chairperson post despite lacking majority support.

Mancherial: BRS district president Balka Suman expressed anger against the police for preventing him from accompanying the party’s councillors.

He, along with Asifabad MLA Kova Lakshmi, staged a sit-in on the road protesting the stance of police officials discharging duties at the Kyathanpalli municipality during a special meeting held to elect the chairperson of the civic body on Tuesday.

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Suman alleged that the police were acting as puppets of the Congress, which was trying to capture the chairperson post in the Kyathanpalli municipality despite not securing a majority. He accused them of becoming slaves of Labour Minister Dr G Vivek and faulted Bellampalli ACP Ravi Kumar and other police officials for stopping BRS leaders from entering the premises of the municipal office.

Suman and Kova Lakshmi raised slogans against the police, seeking justice, and criticised them for registering a case against councillor Swarnalatha from the 21st ward while she was on her way to attend the meeting.

Suman said they were accompanying the councillors to prevent the alleged abduction of BRS-CPI councillors by the Congress, which, he alleged, was illegally attempting to capture the chairperson post.

Earlier, BRS leaders led by Suman and Kova Lakshmi were stopped by the police on a flyover while heading to the municipal office, citing norms. They picked an argument with the police for not allowing them to accompany the party councillors. Police and BRS leaders jostled with each other, resulting in tension.

Meanwhile, certain Congress activists present near the municipality allegedly pelted stones at BRS leaders, escalating the tension further. The municipal office premises resembled a battleground as police resorted to a lathi charge to disperse the warring groups.

Police personnel and BRS cadres sustained minor injuries in the conflict. Large contingents of police were deployed on the flyover leading to Kyathanpalli and around the municipality to prevent untoward incidents.

The BRS-CPI alliance emerged as the largest bloc by winning 14 wards in the 22-member Kyathanpalli municipality. However, the BRS alleged that Congress leaders created trouble by entering the municipal premises in a bid to capture the chairperson post on Monday. Amid tense scenes, the meeting was postponed to Tuesday due to a lack of quorum.