Rally Held Against New Secretariat, Assembly

The Chalo Secretariat protest program led by leaders of all Opposition parties of Telangana was held at Indira Park on Thursday against the proposed plan to demolish the existing Secretariat complex and build a new one, and construct a new Assembly complex by demolishing Irrum Manzil.

The program was held by the Prajaswamika Telangana of G Venkataswamy Foundation. Telangana Jana Samithi president M Kodandaram, Telangana Congress leaders Addanki Dayakar and Indira Sobhan, former MP Konda Visweswar Reddy, BJP leaders D K Aruna and Ch Ramachandra Reddy, TDP leaders L Ramana and R Chandrashekar Reddy, Prof Vishweshwar Rao, and leaders of other parties took part in the program.

The protestors raised slogans against the TRS government and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for the "wrong" decision to build a new Secretariat and a new Assembly. "We will intensify the protests and not allow the KCR government to implement its plan against the people's wishes. The government wants to spend Rs 500 crore for a new Secretariat and Assembly, when it can provide many more free two bedroom houses for the poor instead with the same money," they said.

They appealed to the people to wage a fight like the statehood movement against the "dictatorial rule" of KCR.

Chairman of the G Venkataswamy Foundation and former MP G Vivek criticized KCR for taking a Tughlaq-like decision to waste public money to build a new structures by demolishing existing structures which were in good condition. He demanded that the government withdraw its meaningless decision.

Konda Visweswar Reddy said that public money should be used for the welfare of the people of the State. He wondered who asked the State government to build a new Secretariat, and urged even the TRS leaders to hold agitation programs demanding that the government withdraw its decision. He said that the people of the State would teach a befitting lesson to the state government in the days to come.

D K Aruna too demanded that the State government withdraw its decision to build new Secretariat and Assembly complexes. She warned KCR that the Opposition parties would come together to prevent the TRS government from going ahead with constructing the two new buildings if he didn't listen to them.

The police took the protestors and leaders into custody when they started marching towards the Secretariat. The leaders got into arguments with the police for their "overreaction", and tension prevailed.