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BJP leader held for targeting KCR, state party chief under house arrest
The BJP and TRS have of late been at loggerheads with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month hitting out at KCR’s “family rule” while calling for its end
Hyderabad: The Telangana Police on Friday arrested a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and placed the party chief Bandi Sanjay under house arrest after booking them for alleged hate speech and incitement to violence related to a skit targeting chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Balakrishna Reddy, the BJP leader, was arrested from Ghatkesar around midnight while Sanjay was placed under house in Hyderabad to prevent him from protesting outside the state police chief’s office over the arrest of his colleague.
Police said the BJP organised an event on the occasion of Telangana formation day on June 2 in Hyderabad, where Rao was allegedly insulted in the skit. The skit was also telecast on a Telugu TV news channel.
Ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader Y Sathish Reddy lodged a police complaint against the organisers of the event including Reddy for defaming the government schemes and making false accusation against Rao “to mislead the people and provoke hatred and unrest.”
The police subsequently filed a case under Indian Penal Code’s Sections 114 (abetting violence), 504 (provocative speech to create unrest), 505 (2) read with 109 (committing an offence at a place of worship) against Sanjay, Reddy, Rani Rudrama, Daruvu Yellanna, etc.
A police spokesman said personally targeting and defaming an elected government as well as the chief minister is against “the democratic ethos and hurts the public will.” Police said they recovered a face mask of Rao, a liquor bottle and a flex board of Telangana Formation Day at the venue of the event.
“After medical examination of Balakrishna Reddy...he would be produced before the court for judicial remand,” the spokesman said.
BJP leaders circulated a video showing Reddy being picked up at a toll gate, where he got down from his vehicle. He could be seen arguing with the police for “illegally” arresting him without serving prior notice and following proper procedure. “Is it wrong to hold public meetings in a democratic method? How can I be arrested without following due procedure?” he asked.
Sanjay condemned Reddy’s midnight arrest. “Is he a murderer or a dacoit? How can he be arrested at midnight?” Sanjay asked and demanded Reddy’s immediate release.
The BJP and TRS have of late been at loggerheads. Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month said the BJP will form the next government in Telangana as he hit out at Rao’s “family rule” while calling for its end. He called family-dominated parties an affront to democracy and said TRS has been the only beneficiary of the state’s formation. Modi appreciated the fight BJP workers have put up against the dispensation and alleged they were braving the political hatred, atrocities and assaults from the state government.
Modi’s criticism came days after Rao, who is popularly known as KCR, said farmers can change the government if they want. KCR asked farmers to keep fighting until they get a constitutional guarantee for remunerative prices of their crops. He made the comments in Chandigarh as he accompanied Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab’s Bhagwant Mann to distribute financial aid to kin of farmers, who died during the agitation against the three repealed farm laws. The three chief ministers also paid tributes to soldiers from Punjab who died in the clash with the Chinese in Ladakh.
KCR earlier held a series of meetings as part of efforts to forge an alliance against the BJP for the 2024 national polls. He met his Jharkhand counterpart, Hemant Soren, in March. In February, KCR held meetings with Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai.
KCR left for Bengaluru to meet former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda an hour before Modi landed in Hyderabad last month. In February, KCR skipped a function Modi attended in Hyderabad to unveil the Statue of Equality. The Centre later rejected Telangana minister KT Rama Rao’s allegation that KCR did so and also did not receive Modi because the Prime Minister’s Office sent a message saying the Telangana chief minister “should not come”.
