BJP Chief Ramchander Rao Placed Under House Arrest in Tarnaka Over Polytechnic Visit

Police placed Telangana BJP president N. Ramchander Rao under preventive house arrest at his residence in Tarnaka on Thursday, stopping him from visiting the Government Polytechnic College in Ramanthapur alongside BJP Yuva Morcha activists.

Speaking to reporters from his residence, Mr. Rao condemned the police deployment outside his home, calling it an act of cowardice by the Congress government. He stated that arrests, imprisonment, or preventive detentions would not stop the party from raising issues concerning students, including fee reimbursement and scholarships.

Mr. Rao accused the State government of attempting to weaken technical education and hand over prime institutional lands to real estate interests. He alleged that valuable lands belonging to educational institutions in Masab Tank, Ramanthapur, Mahabubnagar, and Nalgonda were being targeted under the guise of policy changes.

He demanded the immediate withdrawal of GO 97 and opposed the proposed "Shakti" scheme in polytechnic colleges. According to Mr. Rao, these measures would negatively impact technical education, potentially lead to the scrapping of the Engineering Common Entrance Test (ECET), and discourage students from pursuing engineering degrees.

Mr. Rao also criticised both the current Congress government and the previous BRS administration for neglecting higher education by failing to recruit university faculty over the past decade and relying on block grants instead of providing adequate funding. He questioned the delivery of a ₹1,000 crore grant promised to Osmania University by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy a year ago, while also raising concerns over pending promotions, health cards, and pension benefits for school teachers.

Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson N.V. Subhash condemned the preventive detentions of party leaders and workers across Ramanthapur, Malkajgiri, and other parts of Hyderabad.