Telangana Housing Project: Minister G Kishan Reddy Sits On Road In Protest

Union Minister and Telangana BJP president G Kishan Reddy was on Thursday stopped by State police from proceeding to inspect a housing project site of the Bharat Rashtriya Samiti (BRS) government.

Police at Shamshabad stopped the minister who was on his way to Batasingaram village near Hyderabad to inspect the construction of double-bedroom houses for the poor under a state government scheme.

After being stopped, Mr Reddy who is also Telangana BJP president along with other party leaders sat on the road in protest amidst a downpour. The police have placed him under preventive custody.

Mr Reddy accused the Telangana government of cheating the poor by not building the double-bedroom houses that have been promised.

“In the last 9 years, the Telangana government has promised many times that it will give double-bedroom houses to the poor people. The BRS government is cheating the people without building the double-bedroom houses and not distributing the completed houses for many years,” Kishan Reddy said while talking to the media.

“Today, as a Union Minister, I wanted to visit Batasingaram and inspect the double-bedroom houses there. However, the BJP leaders across the state including DK Aruna, Eatala Rajender, Ramchander Rao and others were arrested. They have arrested BJP leaders and even our office staff at the BJP party office,” Kishan Reddy said.

He asked whether there is an emergency prevailing in Telangana.

“They have barricaded the office. Are we in a Kalvakuntla emergency? Is there no democracy here? Shouldn't there be an opposition that fights for the poor? Don't we have the right to protest? Telangana, which was won by a great movement is now under the control of the Kalvakuntla family,” Kishan Reddy said

When the Union Minister was stopped, there was an altercation between the police and the BJP workers accompanying him.

BJP has been criticizing the BRS government over the delay in the construction of double-bedroom houses.

The BJP had decided to send a 60-member delegation led by G Kishan Reddy to inspect the construction of double-bedroom houses In Singaram village. However, ahead of the delegation's visit, several Telangana BJP leaders, who were part of it, were allegedly placed under “house arrest” on Thursday morning.

The minister also said that his “arrest” exposed the tyrannical rule of K Chandrashekar Rao's Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). 

"The house arrest of Telangana BJP leaders ahead of the visit to the housing construction site at Batasingaram Village in RR dist, Telangana is highly condemnable. It yet again exposes the tyrannical rule under BRS. High-handedness and muzzling of opposition voice have become the hallmark of KCR govt,” Reddy tweeted.

The BJP Other Backward Community Morcha Telangana State Executive Member tweeted that the police arrived at his house and took him under preventive custody.

“Today morning Habeeb Nagar Police arrived at my house and took me under preventive custody in protest against KCR double bedroom scheme,” Pittala Chandra Shekar tweeted.

According to reports, those placed under house arrest include Huzurabad MLA and BJP national executive member Etala Rajendar, who was restricted to his residence at Shamirpet, and BJP state general secretaries Bangaru Sruthi, Dugyala Pradeep Kumar.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)