Congress was solely responsible for the misery that the people of Telangana suffered for nearly six decades, said
Published Date – 08:59 PM, Wed – 8 November 23
Hyderabad: A crushing reversal of progress that was painstakingly achieved over the last 10 years, and a return to the betrayal, injustice and hardships that Telangana endured in 58 years of Congress rule would be the fallout if the people voted for the Congress again, BRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao said on Wednesday.
Continuing to draw massive crowds to his Praja Ashirwada Sabhas, organized on Wednesday at Sirpur Kaghaznagar, Asifabad and Bellampalli constituencies in the erstwhile Adilabad district, Chandrashekhar Rao reiterated that the Congress was solely responsible for the misery that the people of Telangana suffered for nearly six decades. Pointing out that the erstwhile Hyderabad State was forcibly merged into Andhra Pradesh, he said the Congress never had any love for Telangana until the BRS (then TRS) raised the ‘Jai Telangana’ slogan for a separate State.
“The Congress allied with the TRS during the 2004 elections on the condition that it would deliver Telangana State. But they betrayed the people of Telangana. It was only after the people put up a joint fight and I launched an indefinite hunger strike before ending up on the deathbed that the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre agreed to deliver the State,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the BRS had emerged to champion the rights and welfare of the people of Telangana, leading to the formation of the State. He urged the people to observe the transformation of Telangana under the BRS rule over the last 10 years as against what they went through during the Congress regime in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
There was a time when the Telangana region was synonymous with migration. But after State formation, the BRS focused on preventing migration and initiated multiple programmes to improve livelihood opportunities within the State. There were days when people preferred to get their daughters married to a small-time government employee than to a youngster with 5-10 acres of land in Telangana.
“The BRS succeeded in addressing issues ranging from water to power supply and livelihood in a phased manner. We transformed the agriculture sector and reversed migration to a large extent through numerous initiatives including new irrigation projects, Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima and uninterrupted power supply among others. We also brought the Dharani portal to safeguard the lands belonging to farmers,” he said.
Chandrashekhar Rao also slammed Congress leaders for terming the Rythu Bandhu financial assistance as extravagant and the uninterrupted power supply as unnecessary, stressing the need for continuous power supply in areas where water cannot be supplied from irrigation projects.
“Rahul Gandhi, Revanth Reddy and other Congress leaders are vowing to throw the Dharani portal into the Bay of Bengal though it has simplified the land management and registration process. If they do so, how will farmers receive Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima and other benefits?” he asked, adding that by scrapping Dharani, the Congress was conspiring to bring back the notorious era of middlemen and anarchy.
Tickets now, State assets next
Citing reports of the Telangana Congress leadership selling party tickets, the BRS president asked people to be cautious as those who were selling party tickets now could sell the State’s assets as well. The Congress has always treated SCs, STs and minorities as pure vote banks and never gave them the due support for their socio-economic empowerment.
On the other hand, the BRS government successfully issued podu land pattas to tribals and efforts were being made to extend similar benefits to non-tribals in Agency areas. A report has been already sent to the Centre in this regard, he said, adding that the BRS government would also consider inclusion of the Aray community among the backward classes. A resolution has been already passed with regard to the Mali community before sending it to the Centre for approval. The BRS was prepared to fight with the Centre in this regard, he said.
