TPCC) president & MP Revanth Reddy today exhorted the Congress cadre to chase and gherao, and disrupt all the programs of, TRS ministers across the state.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president & MP A Revanth Reddy today exhorted the Congress cadre to chase and gherao, and disrupt all the programs of, TRS ministers across the state.
He was addressing a press conference, along with senior leaders Mohammed Ali Shabbir, Mallu Ravi, Anjan Kumar Yadav, Sampath Kumar, Ramulu Naik and others, at his residence in Jubilee Hills.
Reddy strongly condemned Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao placing him and other Congress leaders under house arrest to prevent them from visiting Mahabubabad district today.
He said that the Congress leaders wanted to visit and console the family of Jeturam Naik, a Mandal Education Officer, who died of a heart attack after he was forcibly transferred from Mahabubabad to Mulugu district.
He said that Naik was born, brought up and studied in Mahabubabad. He had also served for almost 30 years at the same place. However, in the name of the new zonal cadre, he was transferred to Mulugu. He tried in vain to convince the District Collector that he was a paralytic patient and must be allowed to continue at the same place on health grounds. He also tried to avoid transfer on the basis of spouse posting as his wife worked as an Anganwadi teacher. But the TRS government exhibited no sympathy, and forcibly shifted Naik to Mulugu, Reddy claimed. Naik was under so much mental stress that he died of a cardiac arrest, Reddy alleged.
"The death of Jeturam Naik is an institutional murder committed by the arrogant and inhuman KCR government," he said.
Reddy also said that as a Member of Parliament and the state president of the Congress, he had every right to meet people to share their pain and sorrow. However, KCR had placed him and other Congress leaders under house arrest.
"A large number of police personnel were deployed within a radius of 2 km of my residence. Some police officials barged into my house without my permission or a warrant. While KCR is using the police force as his private army, some officials are behaving like TRS workers," he alleged.
The TPCC president said that the KCR government had behaved in a similar manner when Congress leaders wanted to visit Erravalli to check paddy cultivation being done at KCR's 150-acre farm.
"House arrests and illegal detentions of Congress leaders have become a norm for the TRS government, especially for the Telangana police. By doing this, KCR is throttling democracy by suppressing the voice of the main opposition party," he said.
The TPCC president said that the Congress leaders and cadre were not afraid of illegal arrests by the anti-democratic KCR regime. If required, he said, the Congress would launch the Jail Bharo program at a massive level in the New Year.
He added, "The TRS government has tried enough to disrupt our political activities. Now the Congress will exhibit its might. We will not allow the TRS ministers to move freely in the state. NSUI and Youth Congress workers will greet the ministers, wherever they are found. The ministers will be chased everywhere, and we will not allow them to conduct any program in a smooth manner."
Citing an example, Reddy said that KTR was visiting Nalgonda district, and would be gheraoed in Nalgonda. If he managed to escape, then he would be stopped at Nakrekal, Choutuppal, Ramoji Film City, or any other place enroute.
Reddy also said that the entire Telangana agitation was based on local and non-local issues. Hundreds of people had sacrificed their lives to end the injustices being done to the people of Telangana. He said that it was to partly remedy this that the then Congress governments had brought in a Presidential Order, the Six-Point Formula, 14F and other measures to ensure that locals got preference in allotments and transfers. He added that the Congress had granted statehood to the Telangana region to end the local and non-local disputes. However, the TRS government had issued GO MS No 371 in violation of the President Order and other norms to revive the dispute while also doing huge injustice to the employees and teachers.
The TPCC president said that the employees and teachers had been holding agitations demanding the scrapping of GO 371. But KCR was not even willing to even talk to their unions. And Naik had lost his life due to the implementation of the faulty GO.
"KCR appears to be waiting for some more deaths before withdrawing the controversial GO. KCR has become habituated to killing people with his wrong decisions. He made controversial announcements on the purchase of paddy. When many farmers died of cardiac arrests and suicides, he announced that the government would purchase the entire stock. Similarly, he let the RTC strike drag on for several weeks and refused to hold discussions. He finally agreed to talk after more than 30 RTC employees had lost their lives. Similarly, the decision to give passing marks to all intermediate first year students was taken after the suicides by at least four students. Now it is the turn of the employees and the teachers. Is he waiting for some more employees to lose their precious lives due to his wrong decision? Why is he not reacting to the demand of the employees and the teachers to withdraw GO 371? Does he derive pleasure from such deaths?" Reddy asked.
He said that the demand of the teachers and the employees was quite justified. They were opposed to the faulty criteria being adopted in allotments and transfers. Citing an instance, he said that an employee of Medchal, which was earlier part of Ranga Reddy district, had been transferred to an area in Vikarabad district, which was earlier part of the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district. He said that the erstwhile Ranga Reddy and Mahabubnagar districts were quite large with about 14 Assembly segments each. They had been divided into multiple districts. Instead of taking the new district as a unit, allotments and transfers were being done on a random and non-scientific basis, he alleged.
"Today, the KCR government prevented us from visiting the family of Jeturam Naik who died due to the injustice caused by the controversial GO 371. If KCR was honest towards employees, he should have visited the family. Else, he should have asked the education minister to meet the family of the Mandal Education Officer at least to express condolences on humanitarian grounds. By not allowing the Congress leaders to visit Mahabubabad, the KCR government has tried to hush up the issue," he said.
Shabbir Ali alleged that the TRS government had turned Telangana into a police state. He said that the police personnel appeared more focused on disrupting the activities of the Congress than on concentrating on law & order and crime prevention. He too warned that the Congress would use its strength to counter the "anti-people decisions" of the KCR government, and asked the TRS ministers to prepare themselves to face nightmares on a daily basis as the Congress cadre, from now on, would gherao them in every nook and corner of Telangana.