As Oppn Leaders Protest Against ‘Wastage of Public Money’, Telangana HC Seeks Design of New Assembly

Hyderabad: The High Court on Thursday heard a case regarding the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government’s plan to bring down Errum Manzil, a heritage structure, to build a new Assembly.

The court directed the chief engineer of Roads and Buildings Department to clarify his stand on the matter on Friday. The court wanted to know if the K Chandrashekhar Rao government had sought permission from the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and asked the counsel to provide the design and plan for the new Secretariat.

The Additional Advocate General said the palace did not come under heritage structures list. He also said that the government had to finalise one among three designs based on the area available.

The petitioner’s advocate said the new Assembly would add to traffic problems and there was no need to build such a structure. After hearing both sides, the court sought the counsel of the government to submit all details of the new plan to build an Assembly at the palace site.

Meanwhile, Opposition parties including, the Telugu Desam party (TDP) and Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) staged a protest against the TRS government's move to construct new buildings for the Secretariat and legislature.

As many as 52 protesters, including Telangana Jana Samiti president M Kodandaram, and TDP's Telangana unit chief L Ramana, were taken into preventive custody when they tried to march towards the Secretariat from Dharna Chowk, police said.

Later, all of them were let off. The protesters raised slogans against the TRS government and the police. TDP leader Ramana condemned the state government’s alleged attitude in curbing the protests using police.

".. all of us are opposing the misuse of public money which should be spent on fulfilling basic needs… Today’s protest is not only against demolition of secretariat buildings but against the undemocratic attitude of the government,” Kodandaram told reporters.

Noting that there were several issues like rainfall deficiency, which put farmers in a quandary, BJP leader and former minister DK Aruna said the chief minister was focused on demolition of buildings instead of addressing burning issues.

Rao had recently laid foundation stones for construction of new buildings for Secretariat and legislature.

Dismissing opposition criticism, TRS leaders have said the government aimed at constructing new buildings for people's convenience and in a way that reflected the pride of Telangana.

(With inputs from PTI)