Rally denied, dharna allowed: Miryalaguda’s paperwork victory
Police rejected the BRS procession and Rajiv Chowk meeting over traffic and law-and-order concerns, then approved a dharna at the NSP camp ground. The roadblock, apparently, was the route.
Police permitted a dharna at the NSP camp ground but rejected the proposed procession and meeting at Rajiv Chowk.
The Congress government in Telangana denied the BRS permission for a farmers’ procession from Miryalaguda flyover bridge to Rajiv Chowk on September 3, along with the proposed meeting at Rajiv Chowk. Police cited the junction’s narrow approach roads, heavy traffic, inadequate parking and National Highway-167 passing through it, according to reports describing the decision.
After BRS leaders met Nalgonda Superintendent of Police Sharath Chandra Pawar, police permitted a dharna at the NSP camp ground at 3 pm, while continuing to reject the procession. The programme formed part of the BRS’s September 2–8 statewide campaign on irrigation, power, urea and crop insurance. K.T. Rama Rao was scheduled to attend.
BRS leaders alleged that the Congress government was using the police to suppress the protest. R.S. Praveen Kumar also alleged that Section 30 restrictions were being applied selectively against Opposition programmes. That claim remains unproven: the written police order, the Section 30 notification and comparable event records have not been made available in the material reviewed.
The Congress government has not publicly answered that allegation. It has, however, allowed the dharna. In Miryalaguda, the procession was the problem; farmers discussing the problem were apparently manageable.