HYDERABAD: The air crackled with expectation at Press Club in Somajiguda in Hyderabad on Tuesday when BRS working president KT Rama Rao trooped in with his entourage and waited for Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to turn up for a debate on who had done what for the farming community in the state.
Rama Rao said he came to the Press Club, accepting Revanth’s recent challenge to him, and now it was up to the chief minister to keep his word.
Accepting the chief minister’s dare, the BRS leader had said he was game for Revanth’s poser and fixed the date for the debate at Press Club. But Revanth left for Delhi on Monday itself to meet party top brass and also Union ministers to seek clearance for state projects.
As Rama Rao entered the premises of the Press Club in the morning, the political theatre for washing the dirty linen of the government was all set. For about half an hour, he waited for Revanth, keeping one chair for the guest of honour, though he knew full well that he was out of station.
But curiosity levels increased among those who were watching the drama that was unfolding before their eyes. Rama Rao sat there for Revanth as though “waiting for Godot”.
Though no one expected that a verbal duel would take place in front of their eyes, yet they were there to watch what would happen even if Revanth did not turn up. The police, sensing the potential for chaos, had turned the venue into a fortress, their walkie-talkies buzzing all the time.
Finally, when the chief minister proved elusive, Rama Rao stepped up to the mic and said: “Revanth challenged me, and here I am,” he said, words dripping with scorn. “But the man has fled. He has made off to Delhi, leaving Telangana’s farmers in the lurch.”
The crowd cheered as all of them were his supporters and he began the usual political roast. He accused Revanth of dodging accountability and failing the state’s farmers, which had driven over 600 of them to suicide under Congress rule. “If he can’t come to the debate, he should have at least sent his deputy or agriculture minister,” the BRS leader quipped.
“Or maybe he is too busy pleasing his guru Chandrababu Naidu, allowing him to take away Telangana’s share in Krishna and Godavari waters to Andhra,” he added.
Rama Rao threw out a new dare: “Pick the time, place, and date. I’ll debate you at your Jubilee Hills Palace if that’s what it takes. But don’t throw hollow challenges and then vanish. Apologise to the farmers for your lies, or face me like a man.”
He dubbed the Congress regime an “Indiramma Emergency,” a jab that blended with the 1970s oppression.