Hyderabad: Telangana Police placed Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Working President K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) and senior leader T. Harish Rao under house arrest on Thursday amid heavy police deployment. The move comes ahead of the BRS-led “Chalo Bus Bhavan” protest against the recent hike in RTC bus fares.
KTR, in a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), criticized the police action, stating:
“All I wanted to do is board an RTC bus peacefully, travel to RTC MD office & submit a letter demanding rollback of steep hike in Bus ticket fares… All to prevent one person from boarding a Bus?!”
He further slammed the Congress-led state government, accusing it of pushing short-term populist schemes like the Mahalaxmi free bus rides for women, while offsetting costs by increasing fares for others:
“They call it free for women, but men have to pay twice the charge… Ultimately, the household expenditure increases.”
The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) recently announced a minimum fare hike of ₹10, effective from October 6. For City Ordinary, Metro Express, E-Ordinary, and E-Express services, fares have increased by ₹5 for the first three stages and ₹10 from the fourth stage onwards.
The BRS, along with party MLAs like D. Sudheer Reddy, Kaleru Venkatesh, and Mutha Gopal, have demanded an immediate rollback, arguing that the hike burdens common households. The MLAs even boarded a public RTC bus to experience the fare hike alongside daily commuters.
Opposition to the hike also came from the Telangana BJP, with State President Ramchander Rao calling it an “atrocious” and “anti-people” decision. He urged the Congress government to withdraw the hike, emphasizing the impact on the common man.
Heavy police presence has been reported across Bus Bhavan in Hyderabad to deter protests.
