We can give what TRS, BJP cannot, says Congress President Rahul Gandhi
HYDERABAD: Four years after his mother and the then Congress President Sonia Gandhi presided over the bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh — which ended up with the grand old party losing both Telugu States to TRS and TDP — current party president Rahul Gandhi landed in Hyderabad on Monday with a tall claim that, whether it is the Special Status for Andhra Pradesh or unfulfilled promises made to Telangana, only Congress can deliver.
The aim was to woo not only the locals but also the people of Andhra settled in Telangana — a majority of whom seem comfortable with the TRS as the State has remained peaceful after bifurcation. Simultaneously, Rahul also wanted to send across a message to the people in Andhra Pradesh that the Congress is still an option.
chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy,
greets people in Hyderabad.
(Photo| R Satish Babu/ EPS)
Rahul Gandhi, who is on his maiden visit to Telangana after taking over as Congress President, just stopped short of calling Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao an “agent” of the BJP, something his Telangana-based party leaders have been repeating quite often. However, he did draw several “similarities” between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chandrasekhar Rao. “The style (of working) of the Prime Minister and Telangana Chief Minister is the same. Both make false promises,” Rahul said in Hyderabad on Monday.
Attacking the Chief Minister, Rahul claimed KCR had failed to deliver on the promises he made and compared him with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “If Modi says he will deposit Rs 15 lakh in all bank accounts, Rao says he will construct 22 lakh double bedroom houses. Four years have gone and not even 5,000 houses have been made. Both are making false promises one after the other,” he said.
He also attacked KCR for “failing” the Dalit farmers in the State. “Though the Chief Minister assured 3 acres of land to Dalit farmers, only 1 per cent of beneficiaries actually got the lands,” Rahul said at the Praja Chaitanya bus yatra that was attended by a host of Congress leaders, including Andhra Congress Committee chief N Raghuveera Reddy.
Alleging that Telangana had become a “corruption capital’’ Rahul attacked the “family rule” by the chief minister. “If Narendra Modi, who calls himself as desh ka Chowkidar has now become bhaagidar, the same can be said of the Telangana Chief Minister as well,” he said. Ironically, Rahul himself has been under severe attack from rivals for dynasty politics.
“People of Telangana have not got their due and instead of asking the Centre to fulfil the demands, Chandrasekhar Rao keeps supporting Modi government, be it on demonetisation, GST and many other issues. The Government of India is not working for Telangana but Telangana government supports Modi on everything,” he said.
“I can guarantee that only Congress can do justice to both Telangana and AP. We will fulfil all commitments. I am not interested in making a single false promise like the PM and the Telangana CM.’’ He said he would continue to raise the issue of Special status for AP and all unfulfilled promises to Telangana in Parliament.
Listing out the unfulfilled promises made by Rao, Gandhi said that every family was assured of one job which was not implemented even though there are one lakh vacancies in government jobs. “Not even 10,000 jobs were given.’’ According to him, as many as 4,000 farmers committed suicide in Telangana. ‘’When Congress was in power (in united AP), it was a revenue surplus state. Now, Telangana is in huge debts and there is a loan of `2.6 lakh per family in Telangana.’’
Gandhi also had a message for his own party leaders. “Before elections, all those who take a parachutes and land (in New Delhi) seeking a ticket, I will cut their parachutes. Only those who fight the battle on the ground will get tickets from the party. I want every Congress worker to go door-to-door and educate people about the false promises made by Modi and Chandrasekhar Rao.’’
People of TS, AP are like brothers: APCC chief
AP Pradesh Congress Committee president N Raghuveera Reddy, who attended Rahul Gandhi’s meeting, said that though Andhra and Telangana are separate, the people of both the States were like brothers. He alleged that both AP and Telangana State governments were like servants of Modi.
Rahul’s salvos
“Let PM Modi have a debate with me. We will talk about Rafale and then the country will know ‘’where the theft has taken place.’’
“Modiji cannot see me in the eye. When i speak in the Parliament and look straight in his eye, he starts looking elsewhere.”
“Even the media is under pressure. ‘’Be it Telangana or the national media, if they write, they are being thrown out. I want to assure them, don’t fear. TRS will go from here and Modi will go from Centre.”