An attempt by police to explain the reason for the move to shift Dharna Chowk from Collectorate to alternative venues found no takers with all-party and trade union meeting rejecting the idea on Monday. The meeting convened by Joint Commissioner of Police Nagendra Kumar remained inconclusive with the political parties and unions saying a new venue would not serve any purpose.
Among others, BJP city president M. Nagendra, Villa Rammohan Kumar of TNTUC, J. Mutyalu (Congress), Neerukonda Ramachandra Rao (INTUC), D. Adinarayana (AITUC), S. Ramesh (CITU), Padmavati (AIDWA) and Harish Varma (BMS) attended.
Some of the union leaders flayed the denial of permission to stage dharnas and participate in squatting at the Collectorate for the past six months. The district administration in consultation with the police has mooted the idea of shifting the venue for protests as dharnas in front of the Collectorate was leading to frequent traffic jams particularly causing inconvenience to people going to various hospitals and diagnostic centres in the area.
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Mr. Ramachandra Rao said the decision to reject the shifting of ‘Dharna Chowk’ was almost with all the parties and the unions insisting on continuation of the practice to allow organising protests at the Collectorate.