Telangana Congress Leaders Arrested For Protests

Several Congress leaders including Telangana Congress president Ponnala Lakshmaiah were arrested by the police for staging protests at District Collectorates across Telangana on Friday.

Ponnala, along with former minister D Nagender and other leaders, participated in a sit-in dharna at the Ranga Reddy District Collectorate at Lakdi-ka-pul.

Speaking on the occasion, Ponnala slammed the TRS government for its failure to implement its promise of waiving off loans taken by farmers.

He said that the delay in the implementation of the promise drove several farmers to suicide, while many others were deprived of fresh loans due to defaults.

He alleged that the TRS government had failed to even provide adequate power to the agriculture sector.

Ponnala said that the Congress would intensify its protest if the government continued to ignore the implementation of its promises that it made to the people.

Later, the Hyderabad City Police arrested Ponnala and other senior leaders when some Congress activists tried to barge into the District Collectorate.

The activists raised slogans against the TRS government and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

Except for Medak, where by-elections are scheduled to be held on Saturday, similar protests were held at all other District Collectorates across Telangana.

Senior leaders including party MLAs and former ministers participated in the protests.

The Congress' dharna badly disrupted traffic for several hours on the entire stretch of the busy Lakdi-ka-Pul road and on other adjacent roads. (INN)