HYDERABAD: BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Sunday demanded that AICC leader Rahul Gandhi apologise to people over the recent “criminal waste” remarks allegedly made against engineering students by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.
In an open letter to the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, he said: “We demand that you, Rahul Gandhi, issue an unconditional and public apology to every student, engineer, teacher and young citizen of this country for the shameful remarks made by your chief minister Revanth Reddy. As the leader of the Congress, you cannot disown your responsibility for this grave insult.”
The BRS leader also demanded that Rahul Gandhi direct Revanth Reddy to tender an unconditional public apology to every engineering student for his repeated insult and withdraw his offensive remarks.
“If you defend Revanth Reddy, you endorse his insult. If you remain silent, you legitimise it,” he told Rahul Gandhi.
“Please remind your chief minister and government in Telangana that political power is always temporary. The verdict of an awakened generation is far more enduring,” he added.
Rama Rao further said that history had repeatedly shown that “whenever the country’s youth believe they had been wronged or insulted, they do not retreat, they rise”. “As the principal campaigner of the Congress, the leader who personally sought the mandate of Telangana’s youth and the person who handpicked Revanth Reddy as chief minister, the political as well as moral responsibility ultimately rests with you,” he told Rahul Gandhi.
“If you truly stand for the values you preach, prove it through action and not speeches,” he said.
“Students preparing to serve this nation are not ‘criminal waste’. They are among India’s greatest national assets. The real criminal waste is the enormous potential of Telangana’s youth under a government that responds to aspiration with arrogance, to criticism with intimidation and to hope with broken promises,” he said.
“If you genuinely believe that India’s youth deserve dignity and respect, then that commitment must begin with your government in Telangana. This is no longer just about Revanth Reddy’s words. It is about values your party stands for,” he added.