Hyderabad, February 16: The barbaric attack on students and mediapersons on the Osmania University campus yesterday had an echo at the Cabinet meeting held here today, reportedly leading to heated arguments between Chief Minister K Rosaiah and ministers from the Telangana region. While the ministers demanded immediate action against the officials responsible for the incident, the chief minister is learnt to have reprimanded them for giving unnecessary lenience to students.
Sources said that the chief minister expressed unhappiness over the turn of events in the State after the terms of reference of Justice BN Srikrishna Committee were announced a few days ago, turning the T-heat once again. Some ministers from Telangana are learnt to have raised the police brutality and wanted immediate action against those responsible.
Assuring severe action against the officials responsible, Rosaiah pointed out that it was the ministers themselves who were indirectly instigating students to continue their agitation. He wanted them to act responsibly and ensure that students did not indulge in violence.
Rosaiah also expressed displeasure over the protests of Congress MLAs and MLCs during the Governor’s speech in the Assembly today. He wanted the ministers to speak to the MLAs and MLCs from their respective regions and ensure smooth functioning of the session.
Some ministers once again defied Rosaiah without any regard for his orders: “Do not leak the Cabinet discussions to the media’’.
Anticipating trouble from the media in the wake of attacks on mediapersons on the OU campus, Rosaiah allegedly instructed Information and Public Relations Minister J Geeta Reddy to avoid even the informal media briefing on the Cabinet decisions. Taking the orders easy, some ministers said that the chief minister wanted them to tackle all issues though he knew that it would not be as simple as it was said. “He knows that none of the problems can be solved easily but wants to avoid unnecessary embarrassment in the media,’’ said a minister from Telangana.
–Agencies