Several BRS leaders, including BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao, were placed under house arrest on Thursday morning as the party called for protests demanding a rollback of the recently increased TSRTC bus fares.
In view of the 'Chalo Bus Bhavan' programme planned by the BRS, police were deployed extensively in Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts.
BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao was detained at his residence in Gachibowli, while former Minister T. Harish Rao was confined to his home in Kokapet. Quthbullapur MLA Vivekananda Goud, MLC Shambirpur Raju, Serilingampally leader Sai Baba, and several others were also placed under house arrest.
Police also surrounded the residence of former Minister P. Sabitha Indra Reddy and placed her under house arrest.
Condemning the government’s actions, Sabitha Indra Reddy said that restricting leaders who raise public issues amounts to an insult to democracy. She alleged that the Congress government’s move to detain those questioning the burden of increased TSRTC fares on the public reflects its intolerance and is an attempt to suppress the voice of the people. She asserted that the BRS would continue its fight on behalf of the people.
As per the BRS’s earlier plan, K.T. Rama Rao, along with former Ministers Talasani Srinivas Yadav, T. Padma Rao, and P. Sabitha Indra Reddy, was scheduled to travel by TSRTC bus from the Rethifile Bus Stop at 9 am to the RTC Bus Bhavan.
The leaders were to reach the Bus Bhavan by 9:30 am and submit a representation to the TSRTC Managing Director, demanding an immediate rollback of the fare hike.
The TSRTC had increased city bus fares from Monday, citing a “green tax” aimed at raising funds to replace around 2,800 diesel buses with electric ones.