Chalo Lok Bhavan Rally Escalates as Telangana Ministers, Leaders Arrested

The ‘Chalo Lok Bhavan’ protest organised by the Telangana Congress and INDIA bloc leaders in Hyderabad on Thursday turned tense, with several senior leaders, including state ministers, being taken into custody. The protest was held as part of the ‘Save Democracy’ campaign, with the leaders alleging irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The protestors began their march from the Indira Gandhi statue on Necklace Road, with leaders and workers of the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), MCPI(U), Telangana Jana Samithi and other INDIA bloc constituents joining the rally. Carrying party flags and placards, the demonstrators raised slogans against the Central government and Election Commission, accusing the poll panel of failing to ensure transparency in the electoral process.

The situation became tense when the rally reached the vicinity of Lok Bhavan, where police had erected barricades to stop the protesters from proceeding further. Several leaders attempted to cross the barricades, leading to a confrontation with the police. The police subsequently detained several prominent leaders and shifted them to different police stations.

Among those detained were TPCC president B. Mahesh Kumar Goud, Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, Duddilla Sridhar Babu, Jupally Krishna Rao, Adluri Laxman Kumar and Vakiti Srihari, besides Rajya Sabha member Vem Narender Reddy. Several MLAs and MLCs were also taken into custody. Leaders belonging to the Left parties and Telangana Jana Samithi were detained as well.

Addressing the gathering, Mahesh Kumar Goud alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were attempting to use the Election Commission to influence election outcomes. He said the Congress would continue its campaign until CEC Gyanesh Kumar stepped down.

Minister Ponnam Prabhakar echoed the demand for the CEC’s resignation and called for greater transparency in the functioning of the poll panel.

Congress leaders also accused the BJP and RSS of weakening constitutional institutions. Mettu Sai Kumar said the INDIA bloc was fighting to safeguard citizens’ voting rights, while Danam Nagender alleged that police had prevented MPs from raising their concerns over the electoral process.

Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal said the alliance’s primary objective was to protect voters’ rights and democracy, stressing that every citizen’s right to vote must be safeguarded.