Black shirts, banned slogans, borrowed democracy

BRS leaders KT Rama Rao, T. Harish Rao and other legislators were detained outside the Telangana Assembly on September 7 after police stopped them from entering in black T-shirts carrying messages including “Congress Failed to Deliver on Its Promises” and “1,000 Days of Failed Governance”. The protest came on the opening day of the monsoon session, after the Congress government crossed the BRS’s 1,000-day marker on September 1. (Times of India)

The BRS says the legislators were stopped for wearing black protest shirts. Police officials offered the more carefully upholstered version: black clothing was allowed, but the printed words were “objectionable”. Some legislators reportedly removed the shirts and were still detained or moved away from the Assembly gates. (The New Indian Express)

The BRS sought a month-long session to raise issues involving farmers, Singareni workers, auto drivers, employees and anganwadi workers. It also moved an adjournment motion on the Congress government’s 1,000-day record and alleged non-implementation of election promises. Its claims of 420 promises and ₹18,000 crore in pending fee reimbursement remain BRS allegations; the research reviewed did not find an official tracker or current government record confirming either figure. (The South First)

The government has not publicly answered this protest or those specific figures in the material reviewed. It did, however, object to the slogans strongly enough to remove the people wearing them. The Assembly will now discuss governance, presumably once the clothes have been approved.