Congress stages Kumbhakarna protest, finds a new deadline
Telangana Congress wants KCR in the Assembly or out of it. The attendance figures behind the demand remain political claims, not Assembly records.
The protest followed a shifting deadline; the Assembly attendance register was not produced.
The Telangana Congress staged a protest in Hyderabad on September 4, not September 5, demanding that BRS president and Leader of the Opposition K. Chandrashekar Rao attend Assembly proceedings or resign. The rally travelled from Gandhi Bhavan to Gun Park, led by Khairatabad DCC president Motha Rohith Mudiraj. The centrepiece was a poster depicting KCR as Kumbhakarna, with the initials helpfully doing the explaining. (Siasat; TMV)
Congress leaders alleged that KCR had been absent from the Assembly for nearly 1,000 days. That figure has not been independently confirmed through an Assembly attendance register. The demand itself has also shifted between resigning as Leader of the Opposition, resigning as Gajwel MLA and resigning from the Assembly. Those are not automatically the same thing, however convenient a slogan may be.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy repeated the challenge on September 5, saying KCR should attend the session beginning Monday, participate in debates or resign as Gajwel MLA and face a by-election. Congress also announced a Maha Dharna at Indira Park for September 6. No public response from KCR or the BRS was identified in the material reviewed. The Congress campaign has produced a poster, a protest and a deadline. The attendance register is still missing from the cast. (UNI; The New Indian Express)