Amid the ongoing debate in political circles and social media on the whereabouts of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, the police on Wednesday detained a youth for standing outside his official residence with a placard asking "Where is KCR?”
K Sai Baba, said to be a worker of the Youth Congress, appeared at the gate of Pragati Bhavan', the CM’s official residence, holding up a placard that read “Where is KCR? He is my CM. It's my right to know."
The security personnel acted swiftly to detain him after checking the CCTV footage. He was picked up by police from his house at BN Reddy Nagar in Vanasthalipuram.
The protest came amid a growing debate on the whereabouts of KCR, as the Chief Minister is popularly known. Opposition parties have been demanding that the government reveal the Chief Minister's whereabouts. They have alleged that KCR "disappeared" at a time when the state is witnessing a big surge in COVID-19 cases.
Some leaders of the opposition Congress and Communist Party of India (CPI) said they were ‘concerned’ about the Chief Minister's well-being. State Congress Working President and Lok Sabha member A Revanth Reddy took to Twitter to demand a bulletin on KCR''s health condition. He said the Chief Minister was confined to his farmhouse for the last 10 days and there were apprehensions about his health in the wake of growing intensity of COVID-19.
KCR's last public appearance was on June 28 at the centenary birth anniversary of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao.
The same day a statement from the Chief Minister's Office said he reviewed COVID-19 situation with ministers and officials and announced that a decision on re-imposing lockdown in Hyderabad COVID-19 would be taken by the state cabinet in 3-4 days.
Though the number of cases in the state, especially in Hyderabad, kept increasing by the day, there was no information about the cabinet meeting.
Meanwhile, state Congress Treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy on Wednesday expressed concern over what he called conflicting, but unconfirmed reports in mainstream and social media regarding the health condition of KCR.
He said the Chief Minister was missing in action for the last 11 days and it was a matter of serious concern. "CM KCR neither addressed a press conference nor held any review meeting at Pragati Bhavan since June 29 and there are unconfirmed and unverified reports that he was in quarantine at his farmhouse in Erravelli. But no one really knows his whereabouts. We are also concerned about him and his health and pray to God that he stays in good health," he said.
A journalist has also moved Telangana High Court seeking details of CM KCR’s location and his health condition. Two days ago, Hyderabad police filed a case against the editor of a Telugu vernacular daily and two other journalists for publishing an article that speculated that KCR had tested positive for COVID-19.