T-Cong leaders arrested for protest over farmers issue

Hyderabad, Sept 12 (INN): Several Congress leaders including Telangana Congress president Ponnala Lakshmaiah were arrested by the police for staging a protest at the District Collectorates across Telangana on Friday.

Ponnala, along with former minister D Nagender and other leaders, participated in the sit-in dharna at Ranga Reddy District Collectorate at Lakdi-ka-pul. Speaking on the occasion, Ponnala slammed the TRS Government for its failure to implement the promise of waiving of loans taken by farmers. He said delay in implementation of promises drove several farmers to suicide while many were deprived of fresh loans due to defaults. He alleged that the TRS Government has completely failed to honour its promise and even failed to provide adequate power to the agriculture sector.

Ponnala said that the Congress party would intensify its protest if the government continues to ignore the implementation of promises that it made with the people.

Later, the Hyderabad City Police arrested Ponnala and other senior leaders when some Congress activists tried to barge into the District Collectorate. They raised slogans against TRS Government and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. Except for Medak, where by-elections are scheduled to be held on Saturday, similar protests were held at all other District Collectorates across Telangana. Senior leaders including party MLAs and former ministers participated in the protest.

The Congress party’s dharna badly disrupted the traffic for several hours on the entire stretch of busy Lakdikapul and other adjacent roads.