Congress Condemns BRS Leaders Over Assembly Protest

On Monday morning the atmosphere at the Telangana State Assembly turned surprisingly tense. A group of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) legislators, led by K.T. Rama Rao – popularly known as KTR – and senior minister T. Harish Rao, tried to enter the assembly precinct wearing black protest T‑shirts. The police, however, stopped them, citing rules that forbid such attire inside the building.

What followed, according to Congress spokesperson Motha Rohit, was nothing short of a scene straight out of a drama. He told ANI that the two leaders, instead of complying, resorted to “disruptive” behaviour – shouting, pushing and allegedly man‑handling police officers, even a female constable who was positioned in front of Harish Rao.

“Harish Rao stripped off his shirt when a woman police officer was standing in front of him, making her uncomfortable,” Rohit claimed, adding that KTR was seen verbally abusing and physically jostling the security personnel. “If they truly care about the people’s issues, they should follow the law and raise their points inside the assembly, not outside on the streets,” he warned.

The Congress leader also pointed a finger at BRS legislator Tata Madhusudhan, accusing him of using foul language against Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar. “We cannot even repeat the words he used – it was an outright disrespect to the temple of democracy,” Rohit said.

Rohit’s demand was crystal clear: both KTR and Harish Rao should issue a public apology, otherwise they “do not deserve to come to the Assembly again.” He also called on the BRS leadership to pull back any such disruptive tactics, reminding that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had repeatedly invited opposition members to voice their concerns within the house.

Meanwhile, the standoff at the assembly gate quickly spiraled into a traffic nightmare. Hundreds of party workers, journalists and police vehicles clogged the road outside the building for nearly half an hour, forcing commuters to sit in a standstill that stretched for about 30‑40 minutes.

Police eventually detained KTR, Harish Rao and several other BRS legislators, taking them to nearby police stations for questioning. The incident, they said, was a breach of the Assembly’s decorum and a violation of security protocols.

The protest itself was staged at a spot called Gunpark, where the BRS leaders brandished black T‑shirts emblazoned with slogans like “Congress failure in implementing guarantees” and “1,000 days of rule are a failure.” They framed the demonstration as a rebuke of the Congress‑led government’s performance over its first thousand days in power.

As the dust settles, the political fallout appears inevitable. The Congress is pressing for apologies, while the BRS has yet to respond publicly. Observers say the episode reflects the growing friction between the two parties in a state already fraught with intense partisan rivalry.