Police foil YSRCP MLAs’ protest rally at Assembly

Dharna at police station against arrests; Vijayamma joins dharna

Hyderabad: The YSR Congress Party legislators’ bid to stage a day-long dharna at Mahatma Gandhi statue in Assembly against the bifurcation of State was foiled by police even before they reached the premises at Telugu Talli statue on Friday. Holding posters and placards against the formation of Telangana, all MLAs and MLCs of the party marched to Telugu Talli statue and staged a sit in the morning.

They also raised slogans against Congress and TDP, demanding that the decision to carve out Telangana be revoked until the issues raised by Seemandhra people are addressed. When the agitating MLAs tried to take out a rally to Assembly, an alert police swung into action and took them into custody and shifted them to Gandhi Nagar police station. Later the agitating leaders resumed dharna in front of the station and demanded that the arrested be released.

As the situation turned hostile, party honorary President YS Vijayamma immediately rushed to the station and joined the dharna staged by her party MLAs. Speaking on the occasion, she charged the TDP that it failed to understand the sentiments and aspirations of Seemandhra people and asked the party president N Chandrababu Naidu to take back the letter submitted to Centre in support of Telagnana. As a main opposition party, the TDP utterly failed to stall the process of State bifurcation. Referring to Naidu’s statement on allocation of Rs 4 lakh crore for building new capital for Seemandhra state, she questioned the sincerity of the TDP leader in his fight against the bifurcation of state.

Demanding that the Congress government to introduce a resolution on bifurcation in the State Assembly and seek the mandate, Vijayamma said if the TDP MPs and MLAs quit the posts, the process for the creation of Telangana would be stopped. She said Party president YS Jaganmohan Reddy, her daughter Sharmila and herself fought against the division by conducting indefinite hunger strikes and yatras, she added.