Hyderabad: The BRS has condemned the arrest of its leader and former corporation chairman Doodimetla Balaraju Yadav in a case registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and the party is demanding his immediate and unconditional release. The complaint was filed by Induja Reddy, wife of Congress MLC Balmuri Venkat.

The arrest came after Balaraju Yadav stood before a media conference and went after Venkat. He criticised the MLC over alleged objectionable remarks against BRS working president KT Rama Rao and BRSLP deputy leader T Harish Rao. Within days, that press conference had become a police case.

A Press Conference Turned Into a Criminal Case

According to the BRS, the case was registered over Balaraju Yadav’s political response to Venkat’s comments. Not over violence. Not over a threat. Over an argument made in public.

The party’s statement puts the issue in blunt terms. It asked whether Opposition leaders and party workers had no right to question allegations made by people holding responsible positions in the government. In the BRS version of events, Balaraju Yadav was arrested for questioning what it calls baseless political allegations against its leaders.

That framing matters. The BRS is not arguing about the details of the SC/ST complaint in this statement. It is arguing that the state has chosen a criminal law over a political reply, and that the reply should have been answered in the same arena where it was made.

The Party’s Core Argument

The BRS statement leaves little room for ambiguity about where it stands. Political criticism, the party said, should be answered politically and not through police action. It described the arrest as contrary to democratic principles.

political criticism should be answered politically and not through police action

That single line is carrying the entire protest. It turns a case about one former corporation chairman into a broader question about whether opposition voices can challenge those in power without facing an arrest warrant. The party is betting that voters will hear that question and ask it themselves.

The BRS has made three specific demands. It wants the case against Balaraju Yadav withdrawn. It wants him released without conditions. And it wants the message to go out clearly that questioning the government is not a crime.

Harish Rao Joins the Attack

BRS Legislature Party deputy leader T Harish Rao added his own condemnation, and his language was sharper than the party statement. He said that questioning the government on public issues is a democratic right. He termed the arrest of leaders for raising people’s concerns unacceptable.

Harish Rao is not a peripheral figure in this dispute. He is one of the two BRS leaders whom Venkat’s remarks targeted, alongside KT Rama Rao. When a party’s own legislature deputy leader is named in the original remarks and then speaks out against the arrest of the man who answered them, the fight stops looking like a routine complaint and starts looking like a direct confrontation between the two sides.

He also demanded the immediate withdrawal of the case. The demand was the same as the party’s, but it came from a leader who has a personal stake in the original allegations. That gives the BRS a double edge: it can frame the arrest as both a defence of a party worker and a defence of its top leadership.

Why Telangana Should Be Paying Attention

This is a Telangana story at its core. Balaraju Yadav is a former corporation chairman. The BRS, the party demanding his release, is one of the state’s main political forces. The complaint was filed by the wife of a Congress MLC, and the BRS is pointing its criticism at those holding responsible positions in the government.

For ordinary readers in the state, the question is simple. If a party leader can be taken into custody under an atrocities law for responding to a rival’s allegations at a press conference, what happens to political debate in the rest of the election cycle? The BRS says the answer should be politics, not police. Its opponents have not been quoted in this report, so the other side of the story is still missing.

That gap is important. The source material contains the BRS statement and Harish Rao’s response, but no direct reply from Balmuri Venkat, Induja Reddy, or the police. Readers should treat the party’s claims as the party’s claims until the other side is heard.

The Stakes Going Forward

The next steps are not yet clear from the reporting. What is clear is that the BRS has moved quickly to turn the arrest into a political test. Its statement, its demands, and its senior leader’s remarks all point in the same direction: the case should be dropped, and Balaraju Yadav should walk out without conditions.

For Telangana’s opposition politics, the case has become a sharp illustration of how quickly a press conference can turn into a legal fight. For Balaraju Yadav, it is a personal crisis. For the BRS, it is a chance to argue that its voice is being policed. Whether the case is withdrawn or pursued, the arrest has already become the story everyone in the state’s political circles is talking about.