Tribals stage protest at BJP office in Hyderabad after Union Minister's remarks on ST quota

Tension prevailed at BJP office in Nampally in Hyderabad on Wednesday afternoon when a large group of tribals tried to lay siege to the office in a protest against Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Bishweswar Tudu's remarks on ST quota enhancement.

Tudu said that the Centre did not receive any proposal from Telangana government seeking an increase in reservation for Schedule Tribes from 6 per cent to 10 per cent in Lok Sabha. Following the minister's statement in Parliament, the tribals rushed to the BJP office in Hyderabad raising slogans against the minister.

To prevent the protestors from entering office, the police put up barricades resulting in a scuffle between them. Since the tribals did not heed to the repeated requests of the police to leave the premises, the police resorted to mild lathi-charge and dispersed them.

The police later took scores of tribals into preventive custody. A police picket was also posted to prevent any untoward incident at the party office.