Congress Working President and incumbent Kodangal MLA A Revanth Reddy was picked up by the Telangana police in the early hours of Tuesday, 4 December, hours before a scheduled meeting by caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in the area. Scores of policemen descended on Revanth's house in the town after breaking open the door, visuals showed.
This took place even as the MLA's aides were seen arguing with the officials, demanding that they be shown ID cards of the authorities and a copy of the arrest warrant.
The police said that it was a preventive arrest on the orders of the Election Commission (EC) as Revanth had appealed to the people in his constituency to boycott the meeting by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief and hold protests in the area.
The arrest has triggered tension in the region as Reddy enjoys massive support. The police have beefed-up security in the area to avoid any untoward incident.
Speaking to reporters after his arrest, Reddy's wife Geetha, said:
“This is an attack on the people of Kodangal. At around 3 am, the police broke into our room and within a matter of five minutes, around 40 people forcefully took him away, the way they would take away a terrorist.”Geetha, Revanth Reddy’s wife
Geetha also alleged that the police personnel didn't even show them their ID cards.
"We don't know if they are the task force, intelligence or state police. One of them said they have orders from higher officials," she said, appealing his supporters to stay peaceful.
“We are only making one appeal. It is an attack on Kodangal but we should not resort to violence. Let’s show the respect we have for Revanth Reddy, a son of Telangana, with our votes.”Geetha, Revanth Reddy’s Wife
Earlier this week, TRS General Secretary Sreenivas Reddy met Telangana Chief Election Officer Rajat Kumar and accused Reddy of indulging in attempts to sabotage the party meeting.
In their letter to the CEO, the TRS party said that KCR was going to Kosgi in Kodangal constituency at around 3 pm on 4 December to address a public meeting in support of local TRS candidate Patnam Narender Reddy, the brother of Transport Minister Patnam Mahender Reddy.
“However, A Revanth Reddy, Congress candidate of Kodangal constituency and Working President of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee, is provoking the people and has called for a bandh in Kodangal. He further threatened to disrupt the campaign meeting of our party president,” the letter stated.
Following this, the EC, in a letter, asked the Director General of Police (DGP) "to take all necessary measures to ensure that no such disruption of any political meeting is allowed in Kodangal constituency."
Incidentally, Congress President Rahul Gandhi had addressed a massive rally at Kosgi earlier in the week, along with Revanth Reddy and other senior Congress leaders.
(This article was originally published on The News Minute.)
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