Rachabanda Flops In Telangana

Ministers Danam Nagender and Mukesh Goud launched the Rachabanda program amidst heavy police security in Hyderabad on Monday even as pro-Telangana protesters sought to disrupt the event.

The pro-Telangana protesters, spurred by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), have been demanding that the program should take a backseat, and the introduction of a separate statehood bill in the budget session of the parliament should be given prominence.

The program is designed to enable the public contact the administration directly and get their long-pending problems solved. The TRS, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Telangana Telugu Desam Party Forum have called for a boycott of the program.

The opposition to the Rachabanda in the city prompted both the ministers, Nagender and Mukesh Goud, to warn the TRS that it should change its stance and work with the government.

The unsavoury events prompted Nagender to say, "We will not be mute spectators of 'goondaism', and we will take the fight to the Telangana Bhavan and overrun it."

However, opposition to the prestigious program was not limited to the city only.

In Warangal, pro-Telangana agitators prevented Backward Classes Welfare Minister B Saraiah, MP Rajaiah and district officials from conducting the program by pelting stones and forcing them to turn back.

They effectively forced the cancellation of the program, launched at Desaipet village, midway. Saraiah was seen keen to calm down the anger of the protesters by trying to reason with them. He said that he was in full support for a separate Telangana.

Saraiah said, "This program is meant for the people, so it should not be disrupted." It may be mentioned here that the minister's convoy was also attacked on Sunday at Kazipet.

Infrastructure Minister Komsatireddy Venkat Reddy too faced the wrath of Telangana protesters at Basara in Adilabad district where the program was disrupted by slogan-shouting agitators. The protesters flung chairs and kicked out the poles of the tent erected for the conducting of the program, leaving the venue looking as if it was hit by a tornado.

The scene was similar in Mahabubnagar where Minister For Information D K Aruna's attempt to get the program on its way was derailed.

Minister Sridhar Babu too faced the irate protesters in Karimnagar district.

Reports of the TRS activists disrupting the program also came in from Nalgonda, Karimnagar and Nizamabad. The activists blocked the government functionaries and the legislators from reaching the program venues at many places by squatting on the roads. The protesters also managed to use tree branches and boulders to block the roads.

The police personnel were too kept on their toes at almost all the venues, chasing away the protesters to ensure that the program went ahead. The protesters, however, pressed on with their agitations, keeping the policemen on their toes.

The lathis of the policemen were effectively combated with the stones, slippers, and rotten vegetables used as weapons by the protesters.

The police arrested the protesters at a few places.

Courtesy: INN