BRS leader T Harish Rao accused the Revanth Reddy-led Congress government of suppressing opposition voices in the Assembly and diverting attention from pressing public issues, including farmer woes and pending student fee reimbursements.

Former Telangana Minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader T Harish Rao on Thursday accused the Revanth Reddy government of suppressing opposition voices in the Assembly and diverting attention from public issues.Rao said that public issues were not discussed properly in the Assembly and alleged that questions raised by the opposition were not answered. He said the farming community was facing issues due to the unavailability of urea, lack of electricity supply and non-waiver of loans. He also alleged that the government was putting the private properties of farmers on the banned list under Section 22A.

'Govt suppressing opposition, ignoring farmer issues'

"Public issues were not discussed properly. The opposition's questions were not answered, and instead, we were suspended from the assembly session, as we understand. Especially today, the farming community is facing severe agitation due to the unavailability of urea, lack of electricity supply, and non-waiver of loans," Rao told reporters here."The government is settling for 30% by putting lakhs of farmers' private properties on the banned list under 22A. The BRS party has been staging statewide public protests against 22A. We were fully prepared in the assembly to stand against this government and demand justice for the victims. On the other hand, another important issue is fee reimbursement," he added.

'Future of 30 lakh students at stake'

Rao also raised the issue of fee reimbursement, alleging that the future of around 30 lakh students was at stake due to pending payments. He claimed that during the tenure of former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, the BRS government provided Rs 21,000 crore for fee reimbursement, while accusing the Congress government of not releasing funds for the scheme.“Today, the future of 30 lakh students is at stake. The future of SC, ST, and BC students is getting ruined. Even when jobs come, they are losing employment opportunities due to a lack of certificates. For higher education opportunities, even if they get seats in PG colleges or abroad, students are losing higher education opportunities because fee reimbursement is not being paid. We are ready with all evidence to discuss this topic as well," the BRS leader said."During KCR's tenure as Chief Minister, we provided 21,000 crore rupees for fee reimbursement. However, the Congress party is not giving even a single rupee for fee reimbursement and is troubling the people today. If we are ready to discuss fee reimbursement, suspending the entire session itself is foolishness. The government's attitude is like "a thief blaming the policeman,” he added.

'Diversionary politics to cover up attacks on women MLAs'

Rao further alleged that cases were being filed against BRS leaders to cover up attacks on women MLAs during the Assembly proceedings. He accused Chief Minister Reddy of indulging in "diversionary politics" and said issues related to farmers, unemployment, students and Section 22A were being ignored.“Attacks took place on our women MLAs, but to cover that up, illegal cases are being filed against us. How can cases be filed against us? What is the role of women police officers there? You intentionally placed women police around male MLAs and male police around women MLAs, tried to restrict us, and are now trying to file cases against us instead. We will investigate all these issues once the BRS government comes to power. We will look into public issues, irregularities, illegalities, and the officials who filed these illegal cases will also have to bear responsibility," Rao said."Whatever investigation they do, Revanth Reddy's strategy is diversionary politics, diverting people's minds away from public problems. Right now, instead of discussing 22A, farmers' problems, unemployment, or students' issues, Revanth Reddy is indulging in diversionary politics across the state,” he added.

'Democracy suppressed in Assembly'

Rao also alleged that women MLAs from the BRS were not given an opportunity to speak in the Assembly despite seeking time to raise their concerns.“Why is this diversion happening? This isn't what is expected. If the government has a clean conscience and good intentions, they should provide opportunities to discuss public issues. Did they talk about even a single public issue in three days? When attacks happened on women, those women MLAs were not given even a single minute to speak. Yesterday, Sabitha Indra Reddy and Sunitha kept asking to speak for a minute because they were attacked, but microphones were not given. Instead, Congress MLAs were given microphones one after another to attack us. Is this democracy?" he said."As the opposition, with such a large number of legislators in the BRS party, not giving a microphone even for a single minute is not democratic; it's a one-sided approach. In the assembly, you are suppressing not just our voices, but the voices of the people and public problems. We will definitely continue our fight. We will raise our voices in the assembly, among the people, and fight for public issues," the BRS leader added.

Congress hits back

Meanwhile, Congress MLC Venkat Balmoor criticised BRS MLAs, alleging that they are acting on the instructions of KCR. He said KTR and the BRS party are making false allegations against the Congress government, claiming that the photos and videos of the ruckus at the Assembly gate were morphed. Balmoor alleged that the BRS has insulted the Speaker, who belongs to the Dalit community, and demanded that they apologise to him. (ANI)(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)