Hyderabad, Sept. 7 -- The first day of the Telangana Assembly's Monsoon Session was overshadowed by scenes of chaos outside the House, where police stopped Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) legislators from entering because they were wearing black T-shirts, triggering scuffles, injuries and the detention of the party's top leadership even before proceedings began.

BRS Working President KT Rama Rao (KTR), former minister T Harish Rao and several other MLAs and MLCs arrived at the Assembly gate wearing black T-shirts printed with Telugu-language slogans marking "1,000 days" of what the party called unfulfilled Congress government promises. Police told them they could not enter the premises in T-shirts carrying political messages. The stand-off ...