HYDERABAD: Launching an agitation in support of over 48,000 striking RTC workers, a large number of BJP leaders and workers, under the leadership of State unit chief K Laxman, staged a dharna in front of Bus Bhavan on Saturday.
Tension prevailed for a while as war of words broke out between the security forces and BJP leaders.
When the police officials requested the saffron leaders to vacate the site as they allegedly had no permission to stage the protest, they squatted on the ground and refused to leave, forcing the police detain them.
Over 50 leaders, including former MLA C Ramachandra Reddy, were arrested and shifted to various police stations in the city.
While the police were in the process of detaining the leaders, Laxman slipped and fell on the ground, sustaining a minor injury to his forehead. He was immediately taken to NIMS Hospital.
It proved difficult for security forces to shift BJP women workers owing to their numbers. Women constables struggled to lift squatting workers.
The agitation lasted about one hour. Though traffic on RTC Crossroads was diverted, vehicles caused jams on alternative routes.
The BJP took out a rally from RTC Kala Bhavan at Baghlingampalli to the Bus Bhavan and raised slogans against Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. The agitators demanded that the State government immediately invite RTC JAC leaders for talks and resolve the issue amicably.
Earlier, extending his party’s full support to the striking RTC workers, Laxman had said that his party would not rest until the State government accepted all the demands of the workers.
“We will launch state-wide agitation to exert pressure on the government. Today’s agitation is only the beginning. We will intensify it in the coming days,” he warned.