HYDERABAD: ON getting wind of their national leader Rahul Gandhi’s rough arrest in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, Congress workers stormed the BJP office in Nampally, courting arrest. Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi were on their way to Hathras, where a Dalit girl was allegedly raped and brutally murdered, when they were arrested by the UP police.
Led by Malkajgiri MP and TPCC working president A Revanth Reddy, the cadre descended on the saffron party office, shouting anti-BJP slogans. BJP workers, who also came out in big numbers, resisted the Congress workers. The matter escalated quickly, and the busy Nampally main road witnessed a clash like no other.
Shouting at the top of their voices, workers of both the parties attacked one another. The police arrived in large numbers and tried to pacify the crowd, but neither side listened to them. In the melee, a Congress worker sustained injuries. Sensing that the situation was getting out of control, the police arrested Revanth Reddy and took him way to a far off police station.
Meanwhile, a few BJP activists retaliated by rushing towards Gandhi Bhavan, which is right across the main road. But the police arrived there too, and quelled the trouble. Later in the evening, when the Congress tried to take out a candle light rally at Tank Bund, the police stopped them, saying they did not have permission for the rally. TPC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy got into an argument with them for denying their democratic right.
The party leaders criticised the police and the BJP government in UP for undermining the democratic rights of citizens. They also condemned the growing attacks on women. Revanth Reddy said the police in UP did not even hand over the girl’s body to her parents, despite Congress workers raising anti-police and anti-BJP slogans.
