Farmers Movement Archive

Cong men not allowed to meet guv, detained

Hyderabad: Congress leaders, including AICC general secretary Manickam Tagore, MPs N Uttam Kumar Reddy and A Revanth Reddy among others were taken into police custody at the Raj Bhavan gate when they went to submit a memorandum to governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Monday. The governor’s office had not given an appointment to the Congress, despite the party seeking it well in advance. Telangana Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the governor’s office cited Covid-19 pandemic as the reason for not giving time. “Why does the same reason not apply to the meetings between CM KCR and the governor?” he asked. Uttam requested that at least one of the officials from the governor’s office should take the Congress representation on the three farm bills at the Raj Bhavan gate. Instead, they were told to email the representation to the governor. Tagore, who was recently appointed as state in charge, led the march from Dilkusha Guest House to Raj Bhavan, as part of the nationwide protest called by Congress demanding withdrawal of the contentious farm legislations. The copies of the memorandum were addressed to governor Tamilisai and President Ramnath Kovind. The Congress wanted to submit the representation to the President of India through the governor’s office. Slogans against farmer legislation, Narendra Modi-led BJP government and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao were raised. Subsequently the police took the Congress leaders to Goshamahal police station where they were released later. Tagore condemned the denial of appointment by the governor. In an informal interaction with media persons, he said despite testing Covid-19 positive once, the Tamil Nadu governor did not deny appointment to the opposition leaders. The rules in Telangana’s Raj Bhavan appear to be different from the rest of the country as governors in other states have met delegations and accepting representations, he said.

The Times of India

2020-09-29

Hyderabad