Sampath Kumar put under house arrest

Hyderabad: Congress legislator S.A. Sampath Kumar, who has been expelled from the Assembly, was placed under house arrest during Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s visit to Jogulamba Gadwal district early on Friday.

He had written an open letter to Mr Rao on Thursday questioning him for visiting the district without implementing the many promises that he had made. Police apprehended a breach of peace and placed him under house arrest as a precautionary measure.

Reacting to this, Mr Sampath Kumar asked, “Does an MLA have no right to tour his constituency,” and added that the people would “bury” the the TRS in the elections.

TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said this was the pinnacle of Mr Rao’s autocratic rule. The house arrest of a Dalit MLA did not augur good for the government, he said.

He alleged that the state government was harassing the MLA because he was a Dalit. The TPCC president said MLAs should be allowed to participate in official programmes and to speak to the Chief Minister to inform him about the problems of the constituency. 

Congress Legislature Party leader K. Jana Reddy said the house arrest of a MLA during the CM’s visit is murder of democracy. He said that the state government is pressing when talks about people’s problems. He said that it is wrong if government thinks to run the police rule in the state. 

Former MP and TPCC vice-president Mallu Ravi said the house arrest of an MLA was an example of police rule.