PNS|Hyderabad
Senior BRS MLA Harish Rao strongly condemned the arrest of farmers and their leaders ahead of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s visit to Zaheerabad, calling it a gross violation of democratic norms.
In a sharply worded statement released on Friday, Harish said, “Every time the Chief Minister visits a district, arrests and detentions become routine. Is this what the Congress government means by Praja Palana?”
He recalled how tribal leaders from the Chenchu community were similarly detained during the CM’s Nagar Kurnool visit and said a pattern is emerging from that.
“Now in Zaheerabad, they surrounded villages near the NIMZ and picked up farmer leaders in advance. This is not governance for the people. This is suppression of the people,” he said.
Harish asserted that democracy guarantees every citizen the right to express dissent peacefully.
Arresting people preemptively simply because they want to voice concerns is a shameless attack on democratic rights. A Chief Minister who cannot face citizens without barricades and arrests cannot call his rule people-centric,” he said.
He demanded the immediate release of all detained farmers and farmer leaders and urged the DGP and the state government to uphold constitutional rights. “Stop this culture of fear. Let the people speak,” he said.
