Cong woos disenchanted artistes

‘For the last three to four months, the police have been systematically stifling our voice’

• A group of folk artistes takes umbrage at the government discriminating against them, while patronising their fellow performers
• The Congress leaders are planning to organise a programme during Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Osmania University

Hyderabad: The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) is trying to woo the artistes alienated by the TRS after successfully roping in Osmania University students. The TPCC leaders have some plans up their sleeves to induct a surprise element during All Indian Congress Committee (AICC) vice president Rahul Gandhi visits Osmania University.

As part of the plan the Congress party has taken up the cause of the arrested artistes at Yadagirigutta on Tuesday. A group of artistes under the leadership Jai Telangana Samskruthika Samithi president Nernala Kishore planned to stage a folk art performance in protest against the government discriminating against some artistes.

The artistes were in fact given permission on August 6 to stage the performance but later cancelled. The police arrested the artistes when they assembled on Tuesday to stage a protest in the form of folk art. The folk artistes too have been making a demand for government jobs in the same manner as Osmania students are staging protests.

A group of artistes have taken umbrage at the government patronising a section of their fellow artistes and discriminating against them. “For the last three to four months, the police are systematically stifling our voice. Starting with Warangal, the police have been disallowing us from performing programmes either in Hyderabad or Sangareddy since June.

But we will keep raising our voice, whether it is in Osmania University or somewhere else,” said R Laxminarayana, organiser of the group. The TPCC, which recently took a group of students to Delhi and arranged a meeting with AICC president Sonia Gandhi and its vice president Rahul Gandhi, is making a strategic move to rope in artistes into its fold.

The Congress leaders are making a strategic move to ensure that artistes give performance during the visit of Rahul Gandhi to Osmania University to take part in “Nirurudhyoga Garjana” (protest by unemployed) during the end of the month.

As a prelude to put its plans into action, the Congress leaders have condemned the arrest of artistes at Yadagirigutta. “The TRS government, after utilising their services all along, is now coming down on artistes like a ton of bricks, said Dasoju Shravan, TPCC chief spokesperson.

By Md Nizamuddin