Dalit Bandhu defence: Why shouldn’t we seek political gain, asks Telangana CM KCR

HYDERABAD: “TRS is not a monastery of monks (sannyasula matham). It is a political party. We are not living in the Himalayas. We are living among the people and we will definitely look for political gains in whatever we do. What is wrong with that?”, Telangana Chief Minister and TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao asked on Wednesday, July 21, 2021, in reply to the criticism that the “Telangana Dalit Bandhu” pilot project was announced for the Huzurabad Assembly segment with an eye on the forthcoming bypoll. 

Addressing a meeting of party workers at Telangana Bhavan after admitting PCC former secretary and Huzurabad leader P Kaushik Reddy into the party, Rao shot back at his critics, saying, “The Huzurabad Assembly segment is very fortunate. Yesterday, someone asked me whether I have selected Huzurabad segment for Dalit Bandhu only for the Assembly polls? TRS is not a sannyasula matham. It is definitely a political party, and why shouldn’t we introduce a scheme? We are introducing the Dalit Bandhu because TRS is in power and I am the Chief Minister. When we work, we seek political gain. But I am not all that selfish. If I were, I would have introduced the scheme in my Gajwel segment.”

He, however, hastened to add that the government would continue to implement development and welfare schemes for the good of the people, without linking them to elections. “When the Rythu Bandhu was introduced, there were no elections. I myself had launched every important scheme in Karimnagar, as it holds sentimental value for me. Rythu Bandhu was introduced in Huzurabad and it was also announced in Karimnagar,” Rao recalled. Referring to political attacks by the Opposition leaders, Rao said some fools were talking in an unbalanced manner by distorting the facts.