BJP continues to protest over Telangana exam goof-up

Hyderabad, April 30 (IANS) Demanding state Education Minister Jagdish Reddy's resignation over the Intermediate examination results goof-up, BJP workers on Tuesday tried to lay siege to the official residence of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao here.

Police arrested BJP workers, who tried to break the cordon and barge into Pragati Bhavan, the official residence of the CM in Begumpet area.

Another group of BJP leaders, including former Central Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, was arrested while staging a sit-in at the Tank Bund Ambedkar statue to condemn the arrest of state party chief K. Laxman.

Laxman was arrested on Monday, hours after he began an indefinite fast at the BJP office here demanding a judicial probe into the bungling by the Intermediate Board of Education (IBE) and compensation for the families of the 21 students who committed suicide. Police forcibly shifted him to the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS).

Laxman has also called for a state-wide shutdown on Thursday to protest the imbroglio and the suicides in its wake, which forced the government to order free re-verification of answer sheets of over 3 lakh students who failed to obtain pass marks.

Over 400 workers of the Congress, other Opposition parties and student groups were also arrested on Monday while trying to lay siege to the IBE office.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader V. Hanumantha Rao on Tuesday visited Peddamma Temple in Jubliee Hills and dared TRS Working President K.T. Rama Rao to swear before the deity that he stands by his claim of not knowing anything about Globarena Technologies, the company being held responsible for the results fiasco.

Rama Rao, who is son of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, has denied any information about the IT firm.

Hanumantha Rao said that if Rama Rao failed to turn up at the temple to swear, it meant that he was lying about the company.