Congress leaders’ arrests reflect ‘hubris of a failing government’: Revanth Reddy

• Revanth Reddy condemned the detention and arrest of Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other opposition MPs

• The Telangana chief minister said the action reflected the government’s fear of the opposition’s campaign to protect voting rights

• He vowed that Congress would continue its protests over alleged electoral irregularities and demand the chief election commissioner’s resignation

Telangana chief minister A. Revanth Reddy has condemned the detention and arrest of Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other opposition MPs, describing the action as evidence of the “hubris of a failing government”.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Reddy termed the arrests unlawful and said the BJP-led government feared Rahul Gandhi’s leadership of the campaign to defend the Constitution and protect citizens’ voting rights.

The chief minister said the use of force against leaders holding peaceful protests to protect democracy was undemocratic. He maintained that arrests, imprisonment and police action would not weaken the Congress or deter its leaders from continuing their campaign.

Drawing a parallel with the freedom struggle, Reddy recalled that the British authorities had imprisoned leaders including Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Subhas Chandra Bose. He argued that those arrests, too, had been made on flimsy grounds.

Reddy said the participation of large numbers of citizens, particularly young people, in the campaign for voting rights would strengthen the opposition’s resolve. Attempts to suppress the movement through arrests would ultimately reinforce it, he added.

Calling the BJP the “British Janata Party”, the chief minister said Congress and its allies remained determined to continue their struggle under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership.

He also reiterated that Congress would pursue its campaign against alleged irregularities in the Election Commission’s functioning, regardless of arrests or imprisonment. The party, he said, would continue demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

With IANS inputs