As long as KCR is alive, Telangana will remain secular. There have been no communal riots or any law and order issues for the last nine and a half years, said K Chandrashekhar Rao
Published Date – 08:10 PM, Thu – 2 November 23
Hyderabad: Asserting that the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) was the sole guardian of Telangana and its people, BRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Thursday said his party had reached out to all sections of people without any discrimination whatsoever.
Addressing Praja Ashirvada Sabhas at Nirmal, Balkonda and Dharmapuri as part of his election campaign, the Chief Minister cautioned the people against divisive forces at work to disrupt the State’s progress, and asked the people to safeguard their own interests by rejecting the Congress, which was known for its disruptive potential.
It was for sure that the future of State-sponsored programmes like the Rythu Bandhu, free power to the farm sector and the Dharani portal system, which helped in reviving fortunes of farmers, would be at stake if the Congress was given power, for which Congress leaders right from Rahul Gandhi to A Revanth Reddy were desperate. With a notorious past replete with communal disturbances, a Congress regime was one to be wary of.
“As long as KCR is alive, Telangana will remain secular. There have been no communal riots or any law and order issues for the last nine and a half years,” he said.
Continuing to present the BRS as the face of development that changed the profile of Telangana by putting in place flagship schemes, Chandrashekhar Rao said it was for the people to decide now whether to facilitate the growth of the State from strength to strength or to allow the robust system built over the years to collapse.
After getting a vociferous ‘yes’ from the massive gathering at Nirmal in reply to his question whether the BRS flagship programmes should continue or not, Chandrashekhar Rao said Dalits were subjected to neglect and suppression in the country for long. After taking stock of the status of Dalits in society and the wretched conditions they were living in for decades, the Dalit Bandhu scheme was devised. The scheme had turned out to be a big boon. Had the same measure been implemented right from the days of Jawaharlal Nehru, their status would have been totally different today. The Dalits were used as mere vote banks, with nothing concrete being done for them, he said.
On the other hand, the rights of the people of Telangana were protected by the BRS. It was the party that fought relentlessly for years for a separate Telangana. Statehood was achieved even if it called for venturing into the jaws of death. The BRS government schemes had facilitated all- round development of the State. Four districts were carved out of the erstwhile Adilabad. It paved the way for setting up four medical colleges subsequently. People in Nirmal, Asifabad and Mancherial were as happy as those in Adilabad with the rapid strides achieved in development after the reorganization of the revenue administration with the formation of new districts, he added.