Hyderabad, Aug 2026 : Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Deputy Leader in the Telangana Assembly T. Harish Rao was detained by police on Thursday during a protest by government employees at the Hanumakonda district Collectorate.
The detention led to tension at the Collectorate, where a scuffle reportedly broke out between police personnel and BRS workers. The Opposition party alleged that police behaved improperly towards the former minister and detained him without allowing him to board a vehicle.
Police escorted Harish Rao on foot from the Collectorate to a nearby police station, prompting strong protests from BRS cadres who objected to the manner in which the senior leader was taken into custody.
The protest had been organised by the Telangana Non-Gazetted Officers (TNGOs) Association to highlight various demands of government employees. Harish Rao had reached the venue to express solidarity with the protesting employees and extend the BRS’ support to their demands.
Earlier in the day, Harish Rao had been placed under house arrest at his residence in Kokapet, Hyderabad, ahead of his planned visit to Warangal. He was scheduled to meet students of the Government Polytechnic College and support their agitation seeking withdrawal of Government Order 97, which provides for the merger of polytechnics with the Young India Skills University.
Despite the restrictions, Harish Rao reportedly managed to evade the police and travel to Hanumakonda. After participating in the employees’ protest, he was planning to proceed to the Government Polytechnic College in Warangal when police detained him.
Speaking to reporters before his detention, Harish Rao criticised the Congress-led government and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy over the pending demands of state employees.
He claimed that Telangana was the only state in the country where six instalments of Dearness Allowance (DA) had remained pending. He assured government employees that the BRS would extend full support to their legitimate demands and called upon the government to resolve their grievances immediately.
Harish Rao also targeted the state government over pension-related issues. He said the Congress had promised during the elections to replace the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) with the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
According to the BRS leader, nearly three years had passed since the Congress government came to power, but the CPS had not been abolished. He also alleged that no concrete decision had been taken on the Pay Revision Commission.
The former minister highlighted initiatives introduced during the previous BRS government for employee welfare. He said the BRS government had introduced the Employee Health Scheme to provide greater health security to government employees, with employees contributing one per cent towards the scheme.
However, Harish Rao alleged that the Congress government subsequently increased the employee contribution to 1.5 per cent. He further claimed that when both husband and wife are government employees, deductions are being made from the salaries of both.
The developments at the Hanumakonda Collectorate came amid growing tensions between government employees and the Telangana government over pending service-related demands. The BRS has sought to use the protests to intensify pressure on the government, while police action against Harish Rao has added a political dimension to the employees’ agitation.
