Polytechnic protest, leaders picked up
BRS’s Harish Rao was taken into custody in Hanamkonda after heading to meet students opposing GO 97. The Congress government says it’s modernisation; students want the order withdrawn, not a speech.
Students opposing GO 97 have sought a written explanation as police detained opposition leaders near Hanamkonda’s Collectorate.
Former minister T. Harish Rao was taken into custody in Hanamkonda on Tuesday after he moved to join protests linked to government polytechnic students opposing GO 97, according to reports from the scene. Telangana Today and PTI via ABP say he was earlier confined to his home, reached Hanamkonda anyway, joined a demonstration near the Collectorate and was then detained. A Samayam video places the pickup in Subedari.
Other BRS leaders — Errabelli Dayakar Rao and Palla Rajeshwar Reddy among them — were present around the protests, per the same reports. Telangana Today also said several BRS functionaries were detained. We have not seen a police note, detention memo or FIR; the police stance reported by PTI was the usual line-and-order and “no permission”.
The fight is over GO 97, which protesters say drags government polytechnic colleges under the Young India Skills University. The state’s own messaging is that nothing vanishes: diplomas remain, fee reimbursement and reservations continue, and industry tie-ups improve outcomes. Students and student groups last week rejected assurances and asked for a written order protecting higher-education pathways — not a press conference.
Young India Skills University itself exists by a 2024 Act of the Telangana legislature — a public–private partnership on paper. What GO 97 precisely does — merger, affiliation or administrative shuffle — has not been published by the government in a document we can cite here. The government did tout industry-aligned curricula and a Tata Technologies tie-up in January.
So the picture is simple enough. Students want the order withdrawn or at least put in black and white; the Congress government in Telangana is offering talking points; and when the opposition shows up, the police load the vans. The Congress government found time for “modernisation”; it hasn’t bothered to show students the rule it is modernising them under.