THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The Central and state governments came under flak from Revanth Reddy, Chief Minister of Telangana, at the culmination of the ‘Samaragni’ yatra led by Congress state president K Sudhakaran and Opposition Leader V D Satheesan at Putharikandam grounds in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. Revanth Reddy said that the Lok Sabha poll is a war against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Telangana CM who came to Thiruvananthapuram for the first time greeted the crowd with a message that he was a “worker-friendly leader and not a leader-friendly worker” which made the party workers jubilant. Taking potshots at the LDF government and former BRS government (formerly Telangana Rashtra Samithi), Revanth Reddy said that there is not much difference between the two.
“I am aware how the Congress MPs from Kerala have been opposing Modi on the floor of Parliament (Revanth was a Lok Sabha MP prior to becoming the CM). Also, Kerala is the only state that has not allowed the BJP and Modi to make inroads. The NDA is here to divide people. This time, the Congress can win all 20 seats from Kerala,” he said.
Revanth reminded party workers that Manipur violence would repeat if the Congress did not return to power. He urged them to render strength to Rahul Gandhi, who is an MP from the state. Asking the BJP whether it has been any martyrs, the 54-year-old CM maintained that the 2024 general election will be a war against Modi. Former Rajasthan deputy CM Sachin Pilot, who was the chief guest at the ‘Samaragni’ valedictory programme, maintained that the rich remain rich and the have-nots remain as have-nots.
“This is not only a challenging time for Kerala, but for the entire nation to oppose the BJP government from returning to power. The BJP is injecting poison into the minds of young people. What they have managed to do is to undermine those institutions which the Congress built over the last 70 years,” said Sachin Pilot.
During his speech, Sudhakaran did not hide his disappointment at the party workers for leaving the venue after Revanth Reddy and Sachin Pilot completed their speeches. He commented angrily, “The party has spent several lakhs towards organising the programme here. Why are you all here if you can’t be here until the end of the programme?”
But Satheesan corrected him stating that the party workers had been patiently waiting at the venue for the leaders to arrive since 3 pm under scorching heat.