HYDERABAD: Congress activists protesting the Enforcement Directorate case on party leader Rahul Gandhi, on Thursday set fire to two-wheelers and damaged window panes of TSRTC buses during their ‘Chalo Raj Bhavan’ programme. The incident of former MP Renuka Chowdary grabbing a police officer by the collar of his shirt during the protest attracted nationwide attention.
In Delhi, Gandhi requested the ED to postpone his questioning till June 20 as he had to tend to his mother, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who is admitted at New Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. Gandhi has been questioned for three consecutive days and was due to appear on Friday. ED officials were yet to respond to his request.
In Hyderabad, police lathi-charged the cadres to disperse them and arrested TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy, CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, party MLAs D. Sridhar Babu, T. Jayaprakash ‘Jagga’ Reddy and senior leaders.
Earlier, in the early hours, NSUI activists entered Raj Bhavan and staged a protest. NSUI state president Balmuri Venkat and other activists were taken into custody.
Speaking to reporters at Bolaram police station, where he was taken after his arrest, Revanth Reddy said that Congress’ protests were always peaceful and blamed the police for provoking the party activists. He said the police had manhandled CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Renuka Chowdary and unnecessarily resorted to a lathi charge.
The TPCC president demanded that cases registered against Congress leaders be withdrawn and that they be released. He called upon Congress cadres to stage protests in front of Central government offices in all districts on June 17 against the ED harassment of Rahul Gandhi. He suggested that party activists burn the effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the protests.
Earlier, following the directives of the AICC, hundreds of Congress activists reached the statue of late party leader P. Janardhan Reddy at Khairatabad to stage a protest against the ED cases on party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi and tried to proceed towards Raj Bhavan. A large number of police personnel was posted on all roads heading to Raj Bhavan, and barricades had been set up.
When the Congress leaders led by Revanth Reddy started towards Raj Bhavan to submit a memorandum to Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, police stopped them. This angered the activists who raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP and the ED.
They also set fire to a two-wheeler and damaged window panes of TSRTC buses. A few activists climbed on TC buses and police vans following which police resorted to a lathi charge. Congress leaders Chamala Kiran Reddy, Hyderabad Mahila Congress president Varalaxmi, Youth Congress president Shivasena Reddy and others sustained injuries.
Police shifted the leaders to Goshamahal, Panjagutta, Chandanagar, Bolaram and other police stations.
Police restricted vehicular traffic on Raj Bhavan road, resulting in much inconvenience to the people especially patients headling to nearby hospitals. AICC secretaries N.S. Bosu Raju, Srinivasan Krishnan, TPCC working presidents J. Geeta Reddy, M. Anjan Kumar Yadav, B. Mahesh Kumar Goud, former minister K. Jana Reddy, former MPs V. Hanumantha Rao, Renuka Chowdary, Mahila Congress president Sunita Rao and others took part in the agitation.
Sangareddy MLA T. Jayaprakash ‘Jagga’ Reddy said, “Police highhandedness led to the clash in which Congress activists injured.”
At the Bolaram police station, Revanth Reddy claimed that the BJP government had brought the Enforcement Directorate cases to the fore to distract the people. By summoning Congress top leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, BJP wanted to threaten the regional party leaders, he alleged.
The TPCC president said that Congress was not bothered that the BJP would get its candidate elected as President. “We will not tolerate if the BJP harasses Congress leaders,” he said and demanded that the ED withdraw its cases against AICC president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
