HYDERABAD: Hitting back at Congress leader and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi who had expressed her sadness over the alleged lack of development in the State, TRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao wondered what saddened her.
Speaking at a public meeting in Shadnagar on Sunday, the TRS chief sarcastically questioned Sonia Gandhi: “Unlike during Congress rule, there are no farmer and weaver suicides now. Is that what saddens you? There are no power cuts today unlike during Congress rule. Is that what saddens you? Are you sad to know that around 50,000 people are taking Rs 5 meals in Hyderabad? Are you sad that we (TRS) have provided potable water to people under Mission Bhagiratha? Some newspapers reported that Sonia Gandhi had a ‘sinking feeling’. I do not know whether she really said that or if reporters misquoted her,” Rao said and asked Gandhi whether the implementation of Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bhima schemes disappointed her.
Not ending his sarcastic queries, the TRS chief launched an even more scathing attack, saying: “Are you sad about not getting monthly ‘mamools’ as you did in undivided AP? Perhaps it saddened that you are not getting bagfuls of money like in the past?”
Claiming that separate Telangana developed “one crore times more than it did in undivided Andhra Pradesh”, he said: “It is the nature of the Congress to hoodwink people. You promised to waive crop loans in Punjab, but after coming to power, the Chief Minister (Amarinder Singh) said the State has no funds and waived only Rs 1,400 crore, so far. We will not cheat the public like you do.”
On Sunday, the TRS chief addressed six election meetings at Tandur, Parigi, Narayanpet, Devarakadra, Shadnagar and Ibrahimpatnam, and during all these meetings he took on Sonia Gandhi for claiming Telangana was underdeveloped.
Sonia had made those remarks at a public meeting in Medchal on November 23. Rao was also upset with Sonia for assuring special category status to AP if Grand Alliance comes to power, and that too during an election meeting in Telangana.“Who wrote the script for you? Some useless fellows wrote the script and Sonia read out the same,” Rao said.
The TRS chief also threw a challenge at AICC president Rahul Gandhi. “Next time, you visit Telangana to address an election meeting give a clarity before seeking votes,” he said.“Congress may accord special status category (SCS) to AP. Or you may drown in Ganga. Let there be clarity. Rahul gives a clarity on whether the same benefits given to AP will be extended to Telangana too or not. Prove your sincerity by spelling out your stand on Telangana. Seek Telangana votes only after clarifying this,” Rao demanded. The TRS chief told the voters that extending industrial sops to AP would pose a grave threat to the very existence of industries in Telangana. Rao did not spare the Telangana Congress leaders too.
“When the Telangana was merged with AP when Sonia delayed the formation of Telangana for 14 years and now when Sonia talked about SCS to AP in Telangana, the State Congress leaders did not utter a single word. The Telangana Congress leaders are spineless and they are cowards,” Rao thundered.
Like in the previous public meetings, Rao termed TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu as ‘mental’. “Naidu says he constructed Hyderabad. Quli Qutb Shah will commit suicide if he heard Naidu’s words. When Naidu constructed Hyderabad, why he failed to construct Amaravati in the last five years,” Rao said.
Additions to manifesto
Hyderabad: TRS manifesto committee chairman K Keshava Rao on Sunday morning submitted, representations received from various groups for inclusions in the manifesto, to TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao. The manifesto committee, based on the representations, made a few suggestions for inclusions, which will be released soon. Meanwhile, several Seemandhra associations in the city announced their support to the TRS. Also, several BJP leaders, including BJP city vice-president Govind Rati, from Goshamahal Assembly segment joined TRS in the presence
of TRS leader KT Rama Rao.