TRS protest at BJP office in Hyderabad triggers tension

Hyderabad, March 23:  Supporters of Telangana's ruling party TRS on Wednesday staged a protest in front of the state BJP office in Hyderabad triggering tension as the saffron party workers also came out to counter them.

Leaders and workers of various frontal organisations of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) staged a sit-in in front of BJP office in Nampally to protest against the Centre for misleading the Parliament on reservation for Scheduled Tribes.

Demanding the sacking of Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Er. Bishweswar Tudu, the protesters raised slogans against the BJP government at the Centre.

The BJP workers also came out of the office and tried to counter the TRS men. The two groups almost came to blows but the police intervened to control the situation.

Police detained the TRS men and shifted them to different police stations in the city.

Those detained include TRS student wing president G. Srinivas Yadav, youth wing leader P. Praveen Reddy and tribal leader Rambabu Nayak.

They alleged that the central minister misled the Parliament by stating that no proposal was received from Telangana for increasing the quantum of reservation for Scheduled Tribes (STs).

They said the minister has uttered a lie as the State Legislature passed a Bill in 2017 for increasing the reservations to STs from 6.8 per cent to 10 and sent it to the Centre.

The TRS leaders alleged that the Centre's stand amount to insulting the tribals.

The TRS and ST groups also organised protest at Suryapet and other places on Wednesday. At Suryapet, the protestors, including women, set afire the effigy of the Central government.

The leaders said the Centre's statement was shocking as the Ministry of Tribal Affairs had written back to the state government that it has no objection to raising the quantum of ST reservation.

They said instead of giving its nod to increase the ST reservation, the Centre misled the Parliament.

The TRS on Wednesday gave a notice for moving a privilege motion in Lok Sabha against Bishweswar Tudu for misleading Lok Sabha while answering a question.