Cong leaders detained during Lok Bhavan march

Metro India News | Hyderabad

Mild tension prevailed near Necklace Road on Thursday after police intercepted Telangana Congress and INDIA bloc leaders during their ‘Chalo Lok Bhavan’ rally, detaining several state ministers and senior party leaders.

The protest, organised under the banner of ‘Save Democracy’, was taken out from the Indira Gandhi statue towards Lok Bhavan, with the protesters demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the recent revision of electoral rolls.

Police stopped the procession near Lok Bhavan by putting up heavy barricades. Tension mounted as protesters attempted to push through the security cordon to reach the Governor’s official residence.

Among those detained and shifted to various police stations were Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president B. Mahesh Kumar Goud, Rajya Sabha MP Vem Narender Reddy and state Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar, Duddilla Sridhar Babu, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, Adluri Laxman Kumar, Vakiti Srihari and Jupally Krishna Rao. Senior leaders and representatives of the CPI, CPI(M) and Telangana Jana Samiti were also detained.

Addressing the protesters before his detention, Mahesh Kumar Goud accused the Election Commission of failing to address concerns over the electoral-roll revision and called upon the Chief Election Commissioner to step down voluntarily.

“The Election Commission has failed to resolve widespread public concerns regarding the electoral roll revision. It is the fundamental duty of the Commission to safeguard voting rights and maintain absolute transparency to uphold democratic confidence,” Mahesh Kumar Goud said.

State Congress and INDIA bloc leaders also condemned the detention of Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other national opposition leaders during parallel protests in New Delhi. They said the agitation would be intensified across Telangana until, in their view, democratic norms were restored.