Tension grips Hyderabad ahead of Congress, BRS face-off over debt claims, tender row

A political confrontation between the Congress and the BRS intensified in Hyderabad after rival leaders challenged each other to public debates over Telangana's debt and residential school tenders. Heavy police deployment prevented clashes, while Harish Rao sustained minor injuries during the commotion.

Hyderabad: Political temperatures soared high in Hyderabad on Thursday as a war of words between the ruling Congress and the opposition BRS escalated into a show of strength. Both the parties geared up for a face-off, prompting heavy police deployment at key locations, including the Telangana Martyrs’ Memorial (Gun Park) and Telangana Bhavan.

The confrontation stemmed from a series of public challenges and counter-challenges between the Congress ministers and BRS leaders KT Rama Rao and T Harish Rao over Telangana’s debt burden and allegations relating to residential school tenders.

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With both sides challenging each other for public debates, hundreds of Congress and BRS workers converged at Gun Park and Telangana Bhavan, triggering a tense atmosphere. Police personnel were deployed in large numbers and maintained a tight vigil to prevent any untoward incidents.

The latest flashpoint began BRS working president KT Rama Rao accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of misleading statements on public debt and challenged him for public debate on the State economy and development after the State formation. In return, Minister Jupally Krishna Rao challenged Rama Rao for debate on behalf of the State government and offered to come to Telangana Bhavan.

In response, Rama Rao and Harish Rao reached Telangana Bhavan on Thursday morning. While Rama Rao remained at Telangana Bhavan awaiting the debate with Jupally Krishna Rao, Harish Rao, accompanied by senior BRS leaders including RS Praveen Kumar, proceeded towards the Telangana Martyrs’ Memorial for the debate. However, they were obstructed by the police outside Telangana Bhavan from proceeding further. Harish Rao who got down from the vehicle to speak to the police, fell down in the scuffle and sustained minor injuries.

While there was no sign of Jupally Krishna Rao at Telangana Bhavan, Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar, Adluri Laxman Kumar and Mohammed Azharuddin reached Gun Park for debate with the BRS leaders. This was over allegations of irregularities in residential school tenders and Minister Adluri Laxman Kumar challenged that he would resign if corruption charges were substantiated.