Hyderabad, July 2: Tensions escalated at the BRS headquarters in Telangana Bhavan on Thursday. Police detained former minister T. Harish Rao and other BRS leaders as they attempted to head to Gun Park for a debate with state ministers regarding irregularities in Gurukul residential school tenders.
Political activity surged when three ministers arrived at the Telangana Martyrs Memorial (Gun Park) for the debate with BRS leaders. However, police intervened and detained former ministers Harish Rao and V. Srinivasa Goud, along with BRS General Secretary R.S. Praveen Kumar and other leaders, as they left Telangana Bhavan.
Political tensions had been mounting since Thursday morning due to challenges and counter-challenges between the ruling Congress and the main opposition BRS regarding the state’s debt burden and alleged irregularities in the Gurukul school tenders.
BRS Executive President K.T. Rama Rao was also present at Telangana Bhavan, waiting for Excise and Tourism Minister Jupally Krishna Rao, who had challenged the BRS leader to debate the state’s debt burden.
Krishna Rao informed the media on Thursday morning that he was prepared for the debate at Gun Park. After attending an event at the Congress headquarters, Gandhi Bhavan, he arrived at Gun Park and spoke to reporters.
He stated his readiness to discuss the debts incurred during the BRS administration, claiming that the BRS government had increased the state’s debt by ₹7.3 crore over its ten years in power.
On the other hand, BRS leaders criticized those avoiding the debate and accused the police of detaining them despite their acceptance of the challenge to debate at Gun Park.
Rama Rao told the media at Telangana Bhavan that this was not the first instance of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy avoiding a debate. He recalled a previous occasion when he had come to the press club to discuss farmers’ issues, but the Chief Minister did not show up.
He questioned why leaders were avoiding the debate after issuing challenges. Harish Rao mentioned that he had called three ministers, but none responded.
BRS Deputy Leader Harish Rao asserted that if the state government is honest, it should convene an assembly session for the debate.
A significant police presence was deployed at Telangana Bhavan, Gun Park, and other locations, as hundreds of Congress and BRS workers gathered, raising fears of confrontation.
Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar, Adaluri Lakshman Kumar, and Mohammad Azharuddin arrived at Gun Park to debate BRS leaders over allegations of irregularities in residential school tenders. They claimed that BRS leaders were absent due to fear of defeat.
The ministers challenged BRS President and former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) to come to the assembly for a debate on all issues.
K.T. Rama Rao had previously challenged Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to a public debate, addressing the government’s administrative failures, farmers’ distress, the ongoing agricultural crisis, and overall state governance.
He expressed readiness to engage in debate anywhere in Telangana at any time.
BRS leaders declared that if they failed to expose the Congress government’s failures with facts and evidence, they would resign immediately and retire from politics forever.
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