KCR tears into Cong-TDP tie-up at mega rally

Hyderabad: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief and caretaker chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Wednesday took a dig at the pre-poll alliance of the main opposition Congress with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and asked the public if it wants to “give the state to Andhra again” and whether the people want to be “slaves” of Amaravati (the upcoming capital of the neighbouring state).

“You (Congress) are joining hands with Naidu? Will you give the state to Andhra again? The Congress here cannot do anything on its own. For any decision it has to go to Delhi, as it cannot decide here. Don’t do this ghulamgiri (slavery),” said Rao at a huge public meeting at Nizamabad as part of his campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections.

The TRS chief mentioned Naidu and raked up regional sentiments given that N. Chandrababu Naidu is the TDP’s national president and AP chief minister. Rao also censured the state Congress president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy for reportedly calling him a liar earlier. “Who do you thinks is the real liar? You should answer that through your votes,” Rao exhorted the public at the meeting.

Rao alleged that the principal opposition party was working against the state’s interests by filing cases in various courts against state government projects. “As many as 190 cases have been filed against the Kaleshwaram (irrigation project). In other states, all parties come together to fight for water projects,” he said.

Rao also blamed former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for merging Telangana with the Andhra region and forming the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh in 1956. “Even before the state (Telangana?) was formed, when former chief minister (of joint state of Andhra Pradesh) said in the assembly that he would not give a single rupee to Telangana, not a single Congress leader said anything,” Rao claimed.

The former chief minister pointed out that under the TRS government, Telangana has achieved a growth rate (average) of 17.4 % over the last four years. He also pointed out that the government has started several welfare programmes. “With what face will the Congress and TDP ask for your votes? Telangana is also the only state government that allocated ₹ 2,000 crore for minorities in a year in the entire country. Our Muslim brothers know that we are working for them,” Rao said.

Wednesday’s public meeting was significant as Rao’s daughter is the Nizamabad Lok Sabha MP. TRS leaders who did not want to be quoted said that about 200,000 people attended the meeting. For the coming elections, the Congress, TDP, Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Telangana Praja Samithi (TJS) have joined hands to take on the TRS. Rao had dissolved the assembly on 6 September, citing “political fragility”, precipitating early polls.