Telangana Congress leaders, including former minister Geetha Reddy and Mohammed Ali Shabbir, on Friday denied receiving Enforcement Directorate (ED) notices in the National Herald case.

Shabbir, a former minister, said that he has not received any notice from ED. He, however, said if he receives the notice, he would respond to the same.

Geeta Reddy said she has also not received any notice from the central agency.

Former MP from Secunderabad, Anjan Kumar Yadav also denied receiving ED notice.

Their clarification came amid some media reports that the ED has served notices to at least eight leaders of Congress leaders from Telangana summoning them for questioning.

Congress sources said the leaders made contributions through cheques and hence there was nothing wrong in it.

Former minister P. Sudarshan Reddy is also reported to have been summoned for questioning.

The Congress leaders allegedly transferred amounts to the accounts of companies involved in the National Herald case.

The situation turned tense as the Congress’ call for siege of Raj Bhavan on Thursday was marred by violence. With police blocking the routes to Raj Bhavan, Congress party activists set fire to a two-wheeler and smashed windows of TSRTC buses.

Protests saw Congress leaders of Telangana getting into arguments with the police who were trying to pacify them and lead them away. When police tried to detain Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury, she objected and grabbed the collar of a police sub-inspector.

Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy, CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Geetha Reddy, and other protesting leaders were arrested and taken to different police stations in the city.

The call for a siege of the Raj Bhavan was given to protest the alleged harassment of party leader Rahul Gandhi by the ED.

Police had tightened security around Raj Bhavan in view of the call given by Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC).

Large number of police personnel were deployed to prevent protesters from gathering around Raj Bhavan.

TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy had announced that a rally would be taken out from Rajiv Gandhi statue at Punjagutta to Raj Bhavan.

However, police had said that there is no permission for a rally or protest at Raj Bhavan. Barricades were set up on roads leading towards Raj Bhavan to prevent protesters from reaching there.

The Congress party on Monday staged a massive protest in Hyderabad against the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate to party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.

Vehicular traffic was thrown out of the gear core city area as hundreds of party leaders marched to the regional ED office at Basheerbagh.

The massive rally led by the party’s state President A. Revanth Reddy began from Necklace Road on the banks of Hussain Sagar.

The state Congress is organising the rally in response to the call given by the party’s central leadership to organise the protest till Rahul Gandhi comes out of ED office.

Wearing black scarves, holding party flags and raising slogans against the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, the protestors marched to Basheerbagh via NTR Marg, Secretariat, Telugu Talli flyover, and Liberty.

The protestors were carrying placards demanding the ED to immediately withdraw the summons issued to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Addressing the protestors, Revanth Reddy said there was no case against the top leaders of the party but the BJP government at the Centre was trying to target them as it feared defeat in 2024 elections.

He said since both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were fearless in their attacks on the Modi government for its anti-people policies, the government was looking to frame them in false cases.

Revanth Reddy also alleged that the BJP government was also trying to divert people’s attention from its failures on all fronts and the steep hike in fuel prices.

He said the people would fight against the attempts by the BJP to target the members of Gandhi family, which made many sacrifices for the country. He alleged that the ED has become a puppet in the hands of the Modi government.

Congress Legislature Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, former MPs Ponnam Prabhakar and Anjan Kumar Yadav, former ministers Mohammed Ali Shabbir, Jeevan Reddy, and other leaders participated in the rally.

The Congress party in Telangana on Monday filed complaints against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his derogatory comments on party leader Rahul Gandhi.

Congress leaders at various police stations in the state lodged complaints against Sarma, demanding his arrest.

State Congress chief Revanth Reddy and other leaders lodged a complaint at Jubilee Hills police station against the Assam chief minister over his offensive comments. He demanded that the police book a criminal case against Sarma and arrest him.

The Congress leaders urged the police to book the Assam chief minister under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 153A and 505 for promoting enmity between different groups.

Revanth Reddy called Sarma’s remarks an insult to the motherhood of every woman. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J.P. Nadda should respond and sack Sarma immediately.

Reddy, who is also a member of Parliament was accompanied by senior leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir, Anjan Kumar Yadav, Sampath Kumar and others.

The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee chief said the police merely issued an acknowledgement. He said the police should register a First Information Report (FIR) and take criminal action against Sarma.

On a call given by Revanth Reddy, Congress leaders in various districts lodged police complaints against the Assam chief minister.

The MP demanded that the state police send a special team to arrest Sarma. He said if no action was taken on their complaints in 48 hours, the Congress party will stage protests in front of the offices of police commissioners and superintendents of police.

On Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao condemning his Assam counterpart’s offensive remarks, Revanth Reddy said he should go beyond mere condemnation and act by asking police to take action against Sarma.

The opposition Congress in Telangana announced on Wednesday that it will launch an agitation on October 2 to highlight the problem of unemployment in the state.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President A. Revanth Reddy said that ‘Vidyarthi Nirudyoga Jung Siren’ will be undertaken from October 2 to December 9.

As part of the 65-day-long agitation, protests will held in all the universities across the state. Reddy appealed to every student and unemployed persons to participate in the agitation.

He said the party would highlight how the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) ‘betrayed’ the students and the unemployed. He alleged that the TRS government led by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, popularly known as KCR, failed to fulfil the dreams of those students and youth who laid down their lives for the Telangana state.

Reddy recalled that in its election manifesto in 2014, the TRS had promised free education from KG to PG and a job for every household. He alleged that after coming to power, KCR shut down 4,368 primary schools in the remote areas of the state, which resulted in the poor getting deprived of education.

Reddy also claimed that the TRS government did not recruit teachers. The government is not releasing funds for fee reimbursement to students and as a result, the poor students are committing suicide.

He also held KCR responsible for the suicides of students.

He recalled that the Congress had introduced free reimbursement to make higher education accessible to the poor. He alleged that due to the negligence by KCR, the dues under fee reimbursement mounted to Rs 4,000 crore.

He pointed out that the TRS government did not even fulfil the promise of paying unemployment allowance, claiming that the government owes Rs 1 lakh to each of the 60 lakh unemployed people in the state.

Claiming that there are 1.9 lakh vacancies in government departments, Reddy said the number of vacancies has gone up as compared to when the Telangana state was formed in 2014.

The announcement of the protest programme came a day after the Election Commission of India declared the schedule for the by-election to the Huzurabad Assembly constituency.

The bypoll will be held on October 30 while the counting of votes will be taken up on November 2.

This will be the second protest programme to be undertaken by the Congress after Reddy took over as the state unit chief in July.

Earlier, the party had undertaken a ‘Dalit Girijan Atmagaurava Dandoora’ programme to highlight how the TRS government ‘betrayed’ Dalits and tribals by going back on the promises made to these sections.