Thu Mar 27 14:25:18 UTC 2025: ## Telangana Chief Minister Recounts “16 Harrowing Nights” in Jail, Sparking Fresh Feud with Opponent
HYDERABAD, INDIA – Telangana Chief Minister K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) and his political rival, Revanth Reddy, engaged in a heated exchange in the state assembly today, escalating their ongoing feud. The spat, which has previously centered around the state’s hosting of the Miss World pageant and the arrest of two women journalists, took a new turn with KTR’s dramatic recounting of his 2020 arrest for flying a drone.
KTR described spending 16 nights in solitary confinement in a high-security prison, normally reserved for terrorists and Naxal extremists. He criticized the conditions as unsanitary and claimed the charges against him—a mere Rs 500 fine for the drone incident—were unjust. He even offered to take fellow MLAs and ministers to see the prison cell himself.
Reddy, who had previously called KTR a “mad dog,” responded by questioning the Chief Minister’s claim of hardship. He argued that KTR’s outrage over the drone incident pales in comparison to his own reaction to social media posts targeting his family. Reddy’s earlier call for the punishment of those who abused his family members—even suggesting public humiliation—further fueled the heated exchange.
The underlying issue involves a 2020 incident where Reddy was accused of flying a drone over KTR’s property. A Telangana High Court recently quashed the complaint, citing procedural errors and the lack of evidence linking the incident to KTR’s farmhouse. The ongoing political battle highlights the deep divisions between the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Congress party, further intensified by recent controversies surrounding the arrest and subsequent release of two women journalists. The journalists were arrested for a social media post critical of Reddy, adding another layer to this escalating political conflict.
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