HYDERABAD: Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy’s Rachabanda programme in Mahboobnagar district, his first in the Telangana region, ran into rough weather on Thursday as Telangana activists went berserk raising slogans, hurling chairs, damaging buses and cars.
The Telangana workers, comprising TDP and TRS cadre, appeared hell bent on disrupting the programme right from the outset. The venue at Singaryapalle in Koderu manda, Mahbubnagar district, turned into a war zone for a brief while.
As soon as the Chief Minister arrived from Kurnool, the protestors raised slogans in support of a separate Telangana State. Sensing trouble, police whipped out their lathis and drove them out.
The unrelenting activists then vented their anger on five RTC buses and three cars of Congress leaders used for bringing people to the programme. Some of them used chairs at the venue as missiles to strike at the police.
Even as the Chief Minister looked on, the clash between the police and the protestors turned violent. People were seen running helter-skelter as the cops chased them away with lathis. In the melee, a large number of students sustained injuries. The Chief Minister was able to go ahead with the programme only after the police cleared the venue and rounded up the protestors.
The Chief Minister, in his reply to the T activists, said his government was according top priority for the development of the backward district.
“The State government is providing 125 working days under NREGS.
The amount for additional 25 days is being paid by the State. The wages under NREGS too have been increased from Rs 100 to Rs121,” Kiran Kumar Reddy said.
Elsewhere in the region, Rachabanda was disrupted at several places. In Warangal district, the T activists burnt tents and furniture set up for the programme. At Peddapur in Ranga Reddy district, TRS activists obstructed the programme.
A large number of TRS activists including the local sarpanch was injured in lathicharge.
In Hyderabad, police arrested BJP and TRS activists who obstructed the the programme attended by Minister Mukesh Goud. Similar incidents took place in Medak, Karimnagar and Adilabad district.
In Karimnagar, locals brought stray dogs, adorned with Jai Telangana placards, to the Rachabanda programme.
Officials were compelled to cancel the programme at several villages due to protests.
