HYDERABAD: Coming down heavily on the TRS government for arresting 18 NSUI activists who had staged a protest at Osmania University Vice Chancellor's office, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A. Revanth Reddy on Monday announced that former AICC chief Rahul Gandhi would visit the arrested student activists in the Chanchalguda central prison on May 7.
The TPCC leaders met arrested NSUI leaders and members in the prison during the mulakat and expressed their solidarity. Telangana Congress in-charge Manickam Tagore demanded that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao release the young leaders immediately.
After meeting the NSUI leaders, Revanth Reddy said that if the state government would not release the NSUI leaders and activists, Rahul Gandhi would go to the jail to meet them. The Congress leaders would stage a protest at the jail against the Telangana government and the police for its hasty and undemocratic action in arresting the NSUI leaders.
The Congress leaders also met Chanchalguda jail superintendent and submitted a representation seeking permission for Rahul Gandhi to meet NSUI leaders and activists in the jail on May 7.
"Rahul Gandhi's programme is scheduled to be held in Telangana on May 6 and 7 in addressing the farmers’ issues. Thousands of unemployed youth are jobless due to lack of opportunities. As many as 80,000 farmers died by suicide due to lack of support from government to farm sector. The government and the police deliberately arrested NSUI leaders and members and sent them to jail," Revanth Reddy said.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Revanth Reddy said, "not only is the action of the police under Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao wrong in trying to prevent Rahul Gandhi from meeting university students, but is also dictating to students of the Osmania University, who have always taken the lead in shaping our state's politics, from deciding whom they should meet. How can CM KCR decide who the students of OU can invite to their campus, meet, or interact with? We will give a call to students of all universities to join their OU brethren and peers in freeing the shackles of restrictions imposed on our great university by the TRS government."
On the other hand, Congress MLA Turpu Jayaprakash Reddy (Jagga Reddy) stated that Rahul Gandhi would visit the OU campus on May 7 irrespective of whether or not the university officials gave permission.
AICC in-charge for Telangana affairs Manickam Tagore demanded that the Chief Minister release the young leaders Immediately. "Protest is their right. If you send them to jail for protest, it happens only in dictatorship," tweeted Tagore.
Meanwhile, Mahila Congress leaders and activists staged a protest at the Gandhi Bhavan at Nampally against the police for arresting NSUI leaders and burnt effigy of Chandrashekar Rao.
