HYDERABAD: Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS)) founder Prof M Kodandaram ridiculed Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's claim that his government made the fledgling State stand at number one position among all states in the country with its novel welfare measures and development works.
"United Nations rejected this notion of development long ago, in late 70s saying that one should look at human development index not at GDP. But the the TS government is looking only at GDP ignoring human development. Telangana has the third largest number of unemployed graduates. It is the second or third state in the country in terms of farmers' suicides. In terms of literacy, TS is at third from bottom. It is one of the States with lowest female literacy rates. It has very high incidents of malnutrition. It is one State where expenditure on private education is very high. A lot needs to be done on all these counts," he commented.
During an interactive session with Express here on Saturday, the TJS founder alleged that crony capitalism was rampant in the state. "An unholy nexus of business and politics is existing in the state," he alleged.
Criticising the functioning of the Chief Minister, Kodandaram said though the CM has longer vision and knows the dynamics of Telangana society and economy, he is using it for his selfish gains. "He is more interested in his personal gains. His government destabilises all institutions including opposition parties," he attacked.
Ahead of the maiden public meeting of the TJS to be held at Saroornagar Stadium here on Sunday, Kodandaram shared his views on various issues like his role in Telangana movement, KCR government's performance and objectives of the new political party.
Alleging that KCR has become the most inaccessible CM in the country, Kodandaram claimed that even many TRS leaders were unhappy with the functioning of KCR.
"I have nothing personal against the CM. I was even offered an MP seat by the TRS boss during 2014 polls. Now, he is a CM and I am a citizen. I wanted to raise issues on behalf of people. The whole problem is that he feels he knows everything. Hence, he is always of the view that he should be allowed to function as per his whims. Any criticism is seen as an effort to destabilise his government. The CM never goes to office (secretariat). You can meet him neither at office nor at house. The CM meets only those who he invites. Thousands of files are getting accumulated with each passing day," he said.
The TJS chief said, "The CM conducts reviews of various departments, without informing the concerned minister. The Cabinet itself has no meaning."
"Karl Marx said God is created by us and we fear the God. Like that, we created the State and Government. Now, our voice is being suppressed by the same government. Hence, we have started challenging the government."
On oration and KCR
* Asked how he rates himself against a master orator like KCR, the political science professor compared himself to Russian Communist stalwart Vladimir Lenin, while comparing KCR with Leon Trotsky, another Russian revolutionary. "Trotsky was a master orator. He used to deliver fiery speeches. Lenin, on the other hand, go round and talked to people in an informal way. Lenin listened to their grievances and shared their dreams. Thus, he was able to connect to people. Who won, ultimately?" Kodandaram smiled.
If AAP did it, TJS can too
* "When Arvind Kejriwal's AAP won Delhi elections against the might of the Centre, why not us? Kanshi Ram campaigned on a bicycle and founded BSP. Bihar's former Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur was renowned as the champion of the poor."
"You make money, destabilise the opposition, win the election and spend the State money for yourself. This is the model being practised in our politics. This should change. Hence, we floated a new party to change this political culture."
"People, more particularly, youngsters, below 30 years of age, are ready for a change. As the government has not fulfilled its promise of providing government jobs, unemployed youth are angry and are looking at us. The focus of our campaign would be on corruption and how political parties amassed such a huge wealth. We will make it an issue in polls."
On Federal Front
"It's neither Federal nor Front. He (KCR) is not interested in either of them. He would have gone to the Southern States' finance ministers' meeting, had he really been interested in forming a Front. He intends to hand over power to his son and move to Delhi."
Objectives of the TJS:
* Objectives of statehood movement should be realised.
* Focus on employment generation
* Health and education should be strengthened
* Citizen Charter be displayed and implemented