Bandi Sanjay Kumar, BRS leaders detained in Hyderabad amid protest seeking exam postponement (Ld)

Hyderabad, Oct 19 (IANS) Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar and BRS leaders were detained by the police as they staged a protest at the Telangana Secretariat along with students demanding the postponement of Group-I Main examination of the Telangana Public Service Commission (TGPSC).

The protest by candidates and supported by the leaders of the two opposition parties (BRS and BJP) led to tension around the Secretariat.

Police detained Bandi Sanjay Kumar and whisked him away when he sat in protest at the Ambedkar statue near the Secretariat after leading a protest march from Ashok Nagar, demanding the government withdraw Government Order (GO), which tweaked the reservation rules.

Amid tension and slogan shouting by the protesters, the police officers forced Bandi Sanjay Kumar to sit in a vehicle, whisked him away, and dropped him at the BJP office.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders R.S. Praveen Kumar, Srinivas Goud, Sravan Kumar and others were also detained by the police along with several protesters. They were taken to various police stations.

There was also a heated argument between BJP and BRS workers during the protest. Both groups pushed each other.

Earlier, Bandi Sanjay Kumar sat in protest at the Ambedkar Statue on the Tank Bund along with protesters after police stopped them from heading toward the Secretariat.

Backing the demand of the candidates, Bandi Sanjay reached Ashok Nagar area, the epicentre of the protests during the last three days.

The BJP leader wanted to meet Chief Minister or Chief Secretary to make a representation over the demand to postpone the examination, scheduled to begin on October 21.

As the tension mounted, the police stopped the rally. Bandi Sanjay Kumar found fault with the police action and insisted that they be allowed to go to the Secretariat.

However, the police officers told him that there was no permission for the rally. They sat on the road at Ambedkar statue to lodge their protest.

Bandi Sanjay Kumar demanded the state government reconsider its stand. Stating that the students have been protesting for a week, he asked how they could write the exam in this situation.

He also alleged that the police were resorting to highhandedness by beating up female students and even pregnant women.

Bandi Sanjay Kumar said that he came to meet the students and support their demand as a BJP worker and not as Union Minister of State. He demanded that the government scrap the 'GO 29' that tweaked the reservation policy.

The Group-I Main exams to fill 563 posts in various departments are scheduled to be held from October 21 to 27.

The Telangana High Court had on Friday dismissed two petitions challenging the order of the single judge, refusing to order postponement of the exam.

A single-judge bench on October 15 dismissed the petitions of some candidates for postponement of the exams.

Students have been protesting at Ashok Nagar area, which has many hostels and coaching institutes.

The candidates demanding the postponement of exams argue that GO 29 will rearrange the prelims list upside down. About 22 cases challenging the GO are pending in the High Court. They say that the GO tweaked the reservation policy and this would limit the chances of candidates from reserved categories.

A total of 31,383 candidates are scheduled to appear in the exam to be conducted at 46 centres in Hyderabad, Rangareddy, and Medchal Malkajgiri districts. These candidates qualified for the Group-1 Mains examination out of around 3.02 lakh who appeared for the preliminary examination held in June.

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