Telangana BJP chief Ramchander Rao, leaders arrested near Secretariat over fee dues
HYDERABAD: Telangana BJP president N Ramchander Rao and several party leaders were arrested near the Secretariat on Thursday while attempting to submit representations signed by more than eight lakh students seeking clearance of pending fee reimbursement dues of ₹15,000 crore.
Rao had written to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy three days earlier seeking an appointment to personally submit the representations collected from students across Telangana. The BJP said there was no response to his request.
Rao subsequently led BJP workers, along with Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) president Ganesh Kunde and other workers, in a march towards the Secretariat to submit the representations.
Police stopped the BJP leaders at the Secretariat gates. Rao and other party workers staged a protest, demanding that the government address the concerns of students.
Police later arrested Rao and shifted him to Chikkadpally police station. Other leaders, including state general secretary Goutham Rao, BJP Legislature Party leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy, MLC Malka Komaraiah, Mahabubnagar MP D K Aruna and state secretary Bhandaru Vijaya Laxmi, were also arrested and shifted to different police stations.
Minister of state for home affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar and other BJP leaders condemned the arrests.
Rao said he had earlier undertaken a hunger strike over the students’ demand and written to the chief minister. He said the BJP had also collected representations bearing the signatures of more than eight lakh students.
Rao accused the Congress government of an “anti-student mindset” and said the BJP would continue its agitation until the pending fee reimbursement dues were cleared.
The BJP has said the government cannot silence the concerns of students and reiterated that it would continue the campaign over the pending dues.
The demand for release of ₹15,000 crore in fee reimbursement dues has been a major issue raised by the Telangana BJP in recent weeks. Rao had warned on August 26 that the party would lay siege to the Secretariat if the dues were not released.
