NEW DELHI: Union minister G. Kishan Reddy was detained by Telangana Police on Thursday, July 20, along with other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders when they were on their way to the site of double-bedroom houses being built by the Telangana government on the outskirts of Hyderabad in Batasingaram village.
Police stopped them when they reached Shamshabad, telling the BJP leaders that they were not allowed to hold protest demonstrations without prior permission. A minor argument broke out between Reddy and the police officials there. Reddy demanded that they be allowed to go ahead with their plan, sitting down on the road as it poured heavily in Hyderabad. Police bundled them into vehicles and dropped them off at Telangana BJP headquarters in Nampally. Reddy was recently made Telangana BJP chief replacing Bandi Sanjay Kumar.
He said the BJP has “launched a war” on the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government and will not stop until it lives up to its promise of providing housing to the poor in the state. He accused the BRS government of indulging in corruption and cheating the poor by building only “substandard” houses. Double-bedroom houses is a key poll promise of the K. Chandrashekar Rao government. However, it has been mired in controversies, with opposition in the state alleging that many genuine beneficiaries are being left out and many sites are experiencing significant delays owing to alleged corruption.
“CM KCR is feeling insecure. A chief minister who cannot provide a roof for the poor is scared of his own shadow,” Reddy said. “The KCR government arresting me will not stop the BJP from fighting against Razakar’s rule of the BRS government. Our fight will last until every homeless gets home in Telangana. Our fight will continue for the people’s issues.”
Despite the drubbing it faced in Karnataka, there is a feeling in the BJP that it has the potential to emerge as a significant player in Telangana politics. A string of wins in the recent bypolls and its performance in the Hyderabad municipal corporation elections have boosted its morale. Lately, however, the party has been troubled by infighting between old-timers and those who joined the party recently. The party had to recently replace Sanjay Kumar, known for his aggressive and abrasive style, with Reddy, who comes with rich experience in running the organisation.
The state of Telangana goes to polls in December this year, when it will see a triangular fight among the ruling BRS, Congress, and the BJP.
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