The Telangana BJP, on Sunday, accused the BRS government of unleashing repression against the civil society by using police force against those protesting the administration for becoming a “real estate company where both public and private land are being usurped for gains and to benefit big businessmen”.
Union Minister for Tourism, Culture and Development of Northeast Region and BJP president G. Kishan Reddy, former Minister Eatala Rajender and others strongly condemned the police lathi-charge against agitating farmers and others against the alleged conversion of industrial land into commercial use in Nirmal town in Adilabad. They charged the police with playing a partisan role and warned of ‘punishments’ if they obey ‘illegal orders’.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has converted TS into a police state where civil rights are curbed, false cases are foisted against political opponents and those protesting illegal orders and indiscriminate arrests are made. The police are blindly obeying the diktats against the law. People are not going to tolerate this and will soon teach a lesson, they told a press conference at the BJP office on Sunday.
The Union Minister claimed that 30 persons were injured in the incident, which included party workers, when the police resorted to lathi-charge on those protesting against the illegal conversion of 280 acres of industrial land allegedly at the behest of TS Minister for Endowments, Forests, Science & Technology S. Indrakaran Reddy.
“Our senior leader D.K. Aruna has been arrested when she was proceeding towards Nirmal and continues to be in police custody as we speak. Three of our party workers received serious head injuries in the police action while our former MLA Maheshwar Reddy is being threatened,” charged Mr. Kishan Reddy.
Eight months ago, the government was forced to halt the implementation of the revised Master Plan at Nirmal due to strong protests but this was brought up again recently in view of the forthcoming elections. While the current agitation in Nirmal has been going on for a week against land conversion, the government has failed to allay their fears. In fact, opposition to indiscriminate and illegal sale of land has begun all over the State, the Minister said.
“The abolition of GO 111 for protecting the twin reservoirs of Osmansagar and Himayatsagar in Rangareddy district is also meant to hand over precious land to real estate firms for vote bank politics and earn hundreds of crores for the ruling party,” claimed the BJP chief.
Mr. Rajender accused the government of resorting to repressive measures when it has only three months left and claimed that the State has become ‘unsafe’ for weaker sections as well as womenfolk.
