Telangana ministers had an eventful Independence Day on Monday. Other than hoisting the tricolour, they also hoisted the Telangana flag in parts of the district, had eggs thrown at them by T-agitators and faced protests.
At Adilabad, protesters threw eggs on the backward classes minister Basavaraj Saraiah’s convoy. The police also had to arrest the Telugu Desam rebel MLA Jogu Ramanna and his associates for raising Telangana slogans at the Parade Grounds when the minister was about to address the gathering after hoisting the national flag in the district headquarters.
In Hyderabad, suspended Telugu Desam MLA Nagam Janardhan Reddy created a flutter in the Assembly premises where he tried to raise the Telangana flag along with the tricolour. He was, however, stopped by the police which forcibly took away the Telangana flag from him. This led to a war of words of sorts between the rebel TD MLA and the cops.
When the Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar arrived to hoist the national flag, he was accosted by a furious Dr Nagam Janardhan Reddy.
“I met the Speaker and he asked me to meet him at around 2 pm on Tuesday. We will convince him to accept our resignations. Telangana people should be united to achieve statehood,” said Dr Janardhan Reddy.
Telangana ministers, who are staying away from their official duties, participated in Independence Day celebrations despite protests. Minister for information technology Ponnala Laxmaiah particularly had a tough time in Warangal where he hoisted the national flag.
At Gun Park too, Telangana activists raised “Jai Hind” and “Jai Telangana” slogans, forcing the police to intervene.