Hyderabad: The Telangana Police on Tuesday asked the BJP leaders to immediately stop Praja Sangrama Yatra on the ground that there is the apprehension of a breach of peace.
This came hours after the police arrested BJP state chief Bandi Sanjay, who was leading the pady- atra, in the Jangaon district. Warangal Police Commissionerate issued a notice, saying there is no permission for the padayatra in the district, and warned BJP leaders that if they continue, legal action will be taken.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Wardhannapet division, served notice to Padyatra convenor G. Manohar Reddy, and BJP state General Secretaries G. Premender Reddy and
D. Pradeep Kumar. Police stated in the notice that in the name of padayatra the BJP leaders were making provocative statements. The police officer also noted that in the name of ‘Dharma Deeksha’, a large number of party workers were being mobilized from other districts.
“In view of your provocative statements and planned Deeksha with huge gatherings from other districts, there is the apprehension of breach of peace in the area resulting in serious law and order problem,” reads the notice. Police made it clear that if they continued padayatra action will be taken as per law for the maintenance of peace and tranquility in the district.
This came hours after Sanjay was arrested in Jangaon while he was preparing to sit on protest against the police action taken against BJP workers in Hyderabad on Monday for staging a protest at the house of TRS MLC K. Kavitha over her alleged involvement in the Delhi liquor scam.
Sanjay, who is also a Member of Parliament from Karimnagar, was shifted to Karimnagar. He, however, has been kept under house arrest. Police said he would remain under house arrest on Wednesday. A police picket has been posted at Sanjay’s house.
Addressing media persons, Sanjay alleged that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government was trying to stop the Praja Sangram Yatra. He declared that the yatra will resume in the Jangaon district at the place where it was stopped. Sanjay appealed to BJP workers from across the state to reach Jangaon to participate in the padayatra and fight against the “undemocratic measures” of the TRS government.
The state BJP chief said the padayatra will continue as scheduled and will conclude in Warangal on August 26 with a public meeting which will be addressed by BJP’s national President J.P. Nadda.
Sanjay launched the third phase of padayatra on August 2 to highlight what he calls the failures of the TRS government. The third phase of the yatra was scheduled to cover 325 km in five districts – Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri, Nalgonda, Jangaon, Hamankonda, and Warangal.
Sanjay completed the second phase of the yatra that had started from Jogulamba Shakti Peetam temple in Alampur, Gadwal on April 14. He started the first phase of the yatra from Sri Bhagya Lakshmi temple at the Charminar in August 2021.
During the two phases, he met thousands of people and listened to their grievances. The BJP leader claimed that they brought people’s issues to the notice of the TRS government and took to the streets to get solutions to the issues. During the first phase of padayatra, Sanjay covered 438 kilometers in 36 days and addressed 35 public meetings. In the second phase, he covered 380 kilometers.
