HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao cleared the air saying he would share the dais with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 5 at the unveiling of the Statue of Equality at Muchintal near Shamshabad. The Chief Minister said that he would attend the inaugural function of the Statue of Equality along with the Prime Minister. “I will receive the Prime Minister as per the protocol. Though, I am against Modi’s policies, I will share the dais as per the protocol. Even if I were to travel in a helicopter along with Prime Minister, I will express my views with him point blank,” Rao said.
Rao said that Chinna Jeeyar Swamy visited Tamil Nadu and Telangana to consecrate the statue of Ramanujacharyulu. However, Chinna Jeeyar Swamy found that Shamshabad was suitable for the same. However, some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Uttar Pradesh elections were claiming that Modi was the man behind the construction of the statue. Jeeyar Swamy on his own, had constructed the statue complex on 100 acres of land, Rao emphasised.
KCR rules out early polls
Hyderabad: Ruling out early polls to the State Legislative Assembly, TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday said that the elections would be held as per the schedule. He, however, said that the TRS candidates for the next Assembly polls would be announced six months in advance. He predicted that TRS would win 95 to 105 Assembly seats in the next elections. The TRS now has 103 MLAs and there were no plans for early polls, he said. Last time, the TRS had gone for early polls with a purpose. “We will not repeat the same every time. We will not go for advance polls. But, we have our own victory mantra this time too,” he said. Some madcaps are saying that the TRS will go for early polls, Rao said. “People will decide who the main opponent of the TRS is, in the elections,” he said.
‘Doubling farmers’ income STILL a dream’
Hyderabad: Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy said that the Central government’s promise to double farmers’ income by 2022 will remain a distant dream if one goes by the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The Minister said that if the Centre’s ambitious goal has to be achieved, growth rate in agriculture would have to be stable at 12 per cent for over seven years but in reality it has not crossed four per cent.
Gujarat arbitration centre, a copy: KCR
Hyderabad: Taking strong objection to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s efforts to attenuate the country’s first International Arbitration and Mediation Centre set up in Hyderabad, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday alleged that Narendra Modi is short-sighted and was behaving like a Prime Minister for Gujarat and not the entire country. Sitharaman announced in her Budget speech that the Centre would set up an International Arbitration Centre in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT). Reacting to the propsal, Rao alleged that the Union Finance Minister took the name of GIFT not taking the name of Gujarat state directly. “When the Arbitration Centre was announced for Hyderabad, then there is pressure to set up the same in Gujarat instead of Hyderabad. However, finally the Centre was set up in Hyderabad and the TS government also allocated land for the construction of a separate building for the Centre,” the Chief Minister explained.
Oppn’s GO 317 stir mocked by CM
Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has pooh-poohed the agitation of the Opposition parties against the implementation of the GO 317. He said that the GO would provide jobs to local youth. Except for 57 employees, all the others had joined duties under the provisions of the GO. “Is it called a movement by the Opposition, who are talking about just 57 government employees,” he jeered at the BJP and Congress.