The Telangana High Court on Tuesday permitted YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) leader YS Sharmila to resume her Praja Prasthanam Padayatra, which was stopped on November 28 after an alleged attack by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) workers in Warangal district. BRS was formerly known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), and is the ruling party in Telangana. The court, however, asked Sharmila to abide by the conditions imposed earlier while allowing her to resume the walkathon.
Hearing a lunch motion moved by Sharmila over denial of permission by the police, the court found fault with the action by the police authorities. It sought to know from the government why permission was not granted after it had allowed resumption of the padayatra. The government counsel submitted to the court that Sharmila had made some objectionable comments after meeting the Governor at the Raj Bhavan. She had alleged that the state had been turned into Afghanistan. The court observed that it is not appropriate to make such comments about the state. It, however, suspended the order issued by Warangal Police Commissioner and allowed Sharmila to resume her rally.
BRS workers had allegedly attacked Sharmila's padayatra at Narsampet in Warangal district on November 28. Protesting against some remarks made by Sharmila against the local MLA of BRS, the protestors had set fire to her bus and pelted stones on other vehicles. Later, the police arrested Sharmila as she refused to call off the padayatra in view of the tense situation in the area.
Sharmila is the sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy. She was shifted to Hyderabad by the police on November 28, but was rearrested the next day as she was leading a protest march towards Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s official residence. She was driving a car damaged in the attack and wanted to stage a protest in front of the Chief Minister's residence. The police, however, stopped her enroute. When she refused to come out of the car, the police towed it away to a police station.
The same day, the High Court had allowed Sharmila to resume her padayatra but laid down certain conditions. However, when she tried to resume the rally from the same place a few days later, the police denied permission citing violation of the conditions laid down while granting permission earlier.
As a mark of protest against the denial of police permission, the YSRTP leader sat on indefinite fast on December 9 at the Ambedkar statue in the heart of the city. The police detained and shifted her to her residence at Lotus Pond. She continued the fast. As her condition started deteriorating, the police forcibly shifted her to a hospital in the early hours of December 11.
Sharmila, who was discharged from hospital on Monday, was prevented from leaving the house by the police on Tuesday when she was going to High Court.