Telangana BJP leader Jitta Balakrishna Reddy arrested over skit against CM KCR

In a statement, the police said, “On June, under the leadership state BJP president Bandi Sanjay, Jitta Balakrishna Reddy and Rani Rudrama organised an event in view of Telangana Formation Day and misused the dais for performing a skit (hate act) with the help of BJP cultural team member Daruvu Yellanna and insulted a person who is holding a constitutional post being democratically elected by the people of the state and the same was telecast on a Telugu TV news channel.”

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) social media convenor Y Satish Reddy had lodged a complaint along with the video footage of the skit at Hayathnagar police station, stating that the organisers misused the platform to defame government schemes with false accusations against the chief minister and the government with an intention to mislead the people and provoke hatred and unrest.

Based on the written complaint, a case was registered against Bandi Sanjay, Jitta Balakrishna Reddy, Rani Rudrama, Daruvu Yellanna and his team. An officer said that during the skit, actors made derogatory comments and personal attacks, depicting the chief minister of the state as a drunkard, cheater and so on. The FIR said the act was against democratic ethos and hurt public will by personally targeting and defaming the elected government and the state’s Chief Minister.

Bandi Sanjay Kumar and other BJP leaders condemned the arrest. “What is the reason for the arrest? Did he commit a heinous crime? Is he a murderer? Why such a hurry to arrest him at midnight,” Kumar asked.