Congress leaders in Telangana have alleged that the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government has been indiscriminately putting them under house arrest in the name of maintaining law and order whenever senior ministers visit their constituencies. They alleged that the latest such instance was on August 14 when all Congress leaders in the Kamareddy and Yellareddy Assembly constituencies were placed under preventive custody during the visit of minister K T Rama Rao. The ruling party has said such preventive detentions, if they happened, were carried out to maintain order. Senior Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir, the convener of the state unit’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC), said that on August 14 all shops and establishments in Kamareddy and Yellareddy were closed for the minister’s visit. “Security personnel were deployed even on rooftops in the entire area that KTR was supposed to visit. People were not allowed to leave their houses,” he alleged, adding that on seeing the security cordon it seemed as if KTR was visiting an area with Maoist presence. All Congress leaders were kept in “preventive custody” and lodged in police stations. Many leaders with health problems had to suffer due to the lack of basic amenities, such as toilets, in the police stations. “Many other leaders were placed under illegal house arrest,” he added. Shabbir accused the state government of smothering democracy. “Why was there so much security for KTR, and why were people subjected to the harassment?” he asked. The number of such incidents highlighted by the Congress is long. On July 19, along with state Congress chief and Malkajgiri MP A Revanth Reddy several senior party leaders were placed under house arrest at different places because they were planning to hold a protest on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Reddy has alleged irregularities in the auction of government lands and has been demanding an inquiry. Others placed under house arrest were Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, state unit working president Jaya Prakash Reddy, and Shabbir. On June 12, ahead of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s visit to Gadwal district to inaugurate the district collectorate building, All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary A Sampath Kumar and other senior leaders were put under house arrest as a “preventive measure”. On June 22, several Congress leaders were placed under house arrest after the state Congress announced it would hold a protest event called “Dashabdi Daga (Decade of Betrayal)” against the BRS government for failing to fulfil its poll promises. House arrests scuttled the plan, according to Congress leaders. A Revanth Reddy and others were placed under house arrest on March 24, according to party leaders, to prevent them from going to Osmania University to join students protesting against the Telangana State Public Service Commission’s question paper leak. Two days earlier, as Reddy appeared to submit evidence before a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the question paper leak, senior Congress leaders including TPCC vice-president Mallu Ravi, Mahila Congress president M Sunitha Rao, Shabbir and others were either placed under house arrest or taken into preventive custody, only to be released later. “It has become a habit for the state government to place Congress leaders under house arrest or prevent them from protesting or moving around whenever a minister or MLA visits. The BRS government has become feudalistic. The basic trait of democracy is working with all parties. This is not present here. Forget about protesting, even freedom of expression is not there for Opposition leaders,” said Vikramarka. He added, “Ministers are expected to meet local public representatives during their tours. Instead, ahead of a minister’s visit, police lock the gates of houses of local Congress leaders, and sit there until the minister leaves, not allowing the Congress leaders to leave their own houses. No one except those they chose is allowed to meet the ministers or MLAs, and no one is allowed to submit any complaint or representation. This government has resorted to controlling the Opposition.” Senior police officials in the districts said they often place political leaders under house arrest based on inputs of possible law-and-order troubles involving the cadre of both ruling and Opposition parties in clashes. A police official said they were forced to take precautions as instances of clashes between supporters of political parties had increased, citing the frequent clashes between BRS workers and supporters of Y S Sharmila during her padayatra last year. Sharmila, who leads the YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP), sat on a day-long fast at her residence in Hyderabad on Friday after the police stopped her from proceeding to Gajwel, the CM’s Assembly constituency in Siddipet district, to study alleged irregularities in the implementation of the state government's “Dalit Bandhu” scheme. Sharmila asked whether it was justified to place her under “house arrest”. The police said she was stopped from proceeding to Gajwel as there could be a law-and-order problem. BRS spokesperson Dasoju Sravan Kumar said, “Unlike many BJP-ruled states, Telangana does not believe in vindictive politics. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao does not believe in suppressing dissent or opposing voices. If at all preventive arrests are made, it is to maintain peace and law and order. It becomes necessary sometimes, because leaders like A Revanth Reddy and former BJP chief Bandi Sanjay resort to using very abusive and violent language or issue threats of harm, or deliver extremely provocative speeches, all of which can lead to serious law-and-order problems in a peaceful state like Telangana. If at all any leader is put under house arrest, it is mainly to maintain peace.” — With PTI inputs
