Hyderabad: “KCR and his police treated me like a terrorist” was Union minister G. Kishan Reddy’s reaction to being detained by the police in Shamshabad, upon his arrival at the airport from New Delhi on Thursday.
Taking serious objection to the police action, Kishan Reddy later told mediapersons at the BJP office: “KCR, through his government and the police, treated me like a terrorist, an anti-social element. The war between the BJP and BRS has begun.”
He said: “The BJP will win this war against the BRS by defeating it in the elections. Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, who promised double-bedroom houses to the poor, failed to deliver on it. If KCR wants to build 50 lakh double-bedroom houses, I promise to get funds from the Centre.”
Kishan Reddy said: “Telangana police violated the law by detaining me while proceeding to Batasingaram. Am I a terrorist or a criminal? Why did the Telangana police intercept my convoy? The government must answer.”
“We will fight against the BRS and dethrone its government in Telangana. The Chief Minister spent crores of rupees on the demolition of IPS and IAS quarters to build his house, and he failed to provide houses to the poor in the state,” Kishan Reddy said.
“The Centre provided funds to Andhra Pradesh and that government constructed lakhs of houses and provided them to the poor. Why has Telangana Chief Minister not done the same?” Kishan Reddy asked.
He said that the BJP would soon take to the streets in the fight against the ruling BRS and highlight the failures of the government.
Earlier in the day, Kishan Reddy was detained while on his way to inspect the state government-built two-bedroom houses at Batasingaram village.
The state BJP, led by Kishan Reddy, planned to showcase the dilapidated state of the unoccupied houses.
However, the police did not allow them to pass, as they barricaded roads near the airport and the Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway.
Upon being halted, Kishan Reddy sat on the road despite the rain and questioned the Rachakonda police commissioner, D.S. Chauhan, on why he was being arrested, to which he was told that he did not have permission to visit Batasingaram and that his convoy would not be allowed to proceed. Later, the police lifted Kishan Reddy, sat him in his car and a senior police officer dropped the Union minister at the BJP office in Nampally.
The police, by setting up a check post near Peda-Amberpet on the ORR, stopped vehicles in which BJP leaders and activists were travelling to Batasingaram. Mediapersons were also disallowed from visiting the village.
