HYDERABAD: In a pre-dawn swoop, police on Monday evicted Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka from his hunger strike camp and admitted him to Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences.
Vikramarka’s health was showing signs of deterioration as he was on fast for the last three days.
He was protesting at Indira Park here against the merger of 12 Congress legislators into the Telangana Rashtra Samiti Legislature Party (TRSLP).
At about 5.30 am, when Vikramarka was sleeping at the location, Central Zone police reached the place and took him to the hospital.
Party workers present at the location tried to obstruct the police but to no avail.
There was a mild struggle for some time before the police could shift Vikramarka to the hospital.
On reaching the hospital, Vikramarka refused treatment and said that though he had been shifted to hospital, he was still on an indefinite hunger strike.
Later in the day, he called off his hunger strike on the advice of the party’s senior leaders who were concerned about his health.
After visiting Vikramarka at the hospital, TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy said he wanted to know why Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was trying to lure Congress legislators into his party though he has an unassailable majority in the Assembly. “It appears he is doing all this to ensure there is no one to question the government’s actions in the Assembly,” he said.
Uttam Kumar accused Speaker P Srinivas Reddy of inaction with respect to Congress’ complaints against its MLAs’ defections.
“When our MLAs had joined TRS, separately, we complained to the Speaker. However, later it was announced the MLAs had been merged into the TRSLP. It was made to sound as if the MLAs had joined TRS en masse. This is not true,” he said.
Uttam Kumar said the Congress had already filed a petition in the High Court and if necessary, the party will knock on the doors of the Supreme Court for justice.
The TPCC chief said that he had even sought an appointment with the President of India to explain to him how the anti-defection law had been circumvented to admit the Congress legislators into the TRS.
Uttam Kumar took exception to the move of the TRS to ensure that AIMIM would get Opposition Party status, a party which opposed bifurcation of the undivided State of Andhra Pradesh.
Protest in front of collectors’ offices
TPCC chief and Nalgonda MP Uttam Kumar Reddy said Congress activists would stage protests in front of offices of district collectors across the State. Reddy also asked Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to speak on the matter, demanding from him an answer to ‘why he was purchasing MLAs’.