Scores of Congress workers were taken into preventive custody for attempting to picket KCR's residence
Scores of Congress workers were on Monday taken into preventive custody in the city and other districts for attempting to picket Pragathi Bhavan, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's official residence complex-cum-camp office in Hyderabad, seeking immediate resolution to the ongoing indefinite strike by RTC employees, police said.
The Congress had earlier set a deadline of October 19 for the Telangana government to resolve the stir, failing which it would lay siege to the office for October 21 and had given a Chalo Pragathi Bhavan call accordingly, following which police had made elaborate security arrangements.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee working president and Malkajgiri MP A Revanth Reddy, former MP Anjan Kumar Yadav and several other senior leaders and scores of party workers were taken into preventive custody near Pragathi Bhavan and shifted to different police stations in the city, police said.
"Attempts (by Congress) to lay siege to the Pragathi Bhavan has been foiled," a senior police official told PTI.
Congress Legislature Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and several senior Congress leaders were put under "house arrest."
Former minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir condemned the arrest of party workers and leaders across the state and alleged that the state was heading to a constitutional crisis.
"Almost all leaders were kept under house arrest since the early hours of Monday and those who managed to come out were taken into custody and shifted to various police stations.
This is completely against democratic norms," he said in a release.
He said Congress leaders wanted to assemble at Pragathi Bhavan to submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister seeking immediate resolution of the RTC crisis.
However, the chief minister appears to be in no mood to even accept a memorandum on public issues, he alleged.
About 48,000 employees of different unions of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation began an indefinite stir from October 5 to press their demands including merger of the RTC with the government and pay revision.
Commuters have been put to hardship with the buses staying off the roads. Ruling out discussions with the agitating unions, the TRS government had said the stir was illegal as they caused immense inconvenience to public.
The state High Court on Friday directed the RTC and the employees to sit across the negotiating table and settle all their disputes before October 28.
RTC employees and workers have been carrying out protests across the state over their demands with political parties and different organisations extending their support. A Telangana bandh was also observed by them on Saturday.
Since the employees went on stir, the chief minister had taken a tough stand saying the agitating workers had "self-dismissed" themselves. He had also made it clear that under no circumstances would the RTC be merged with the government and also ruled out talks with the employees or taking them back.