HYDERABAD: A day after the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) meeting held in Khammam, several ministers of the ruling party were on cloud nine. Describing the public meeting, the first since the TRS was rechristened as BRS, as a “super duper hit”, the party’s senior leaders on Thursday went on the offensive and hit out at BJP State president Bandi Sanjay Kumar for calling it a “flop show”.
Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar, speaking to the media, said that the meeting was a grand success and that such a massive public meeting was never conducted in Khammam. Referring specifically to Bandi Sanjay’s comments, the minister who represents the Khammam Assembly constituency said: “It is better for Bandi Sanjay to visit a Kanti Velugu camp and get his eyes tested as he was unable see the success of BRS meeting. We will send a medical team if he wants.”
Roads & Buildings Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy too hit out at the BJP leader, saying “Bandi’s brain got damaged after the public meeting. Bandi should go to a Kanti Velugu camp with his Aadhaar card and get his eyes screened.”
Minister Ajay Kumar also refuted the allegations of TPCC chief A Revanth Reddy that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao gave ‘supari’ to Congress leaders to defeat the grand old party in Karnataka Assembly polls.
Rythu Bandhu Samithi State president Palla Rajeshwar Reddy said that the BRS would support the farmers’ agitation across the country and provide free power to them. In Suryapet, Energy Minster G Jagadish Reddy predicted that with the success of Khammam meeting, the country’s politics would witness several major changes.
Warning to communal forces, tweets Pinarayi
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan tweeted: “The massive public meeting held in Khammam attended by various CMs and national leaders sends a strong warning to the communal politics of Sangh Parivar. People’s will to fight their divisive agenda by upholding democratic values shall prevail. We shall overcome! (sic).”
Sharing photos of Khammam BRS meeting, Samajwadi Party leader and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav tweeted: “It is shameful that the BJP is remembering minorities, when BJP’s defeat is clearly visible in the next elections. The BJP started counting its days. After giving benefits to a few rich and throwing the people and the country into the quagmire of inflation, poverty, corruption, recession, unemployment and hatred, the BJP is all set to face the defeat in the next elections.”
‘Gathered to settle Delhi liquor scam accounts’
Earlier, Bandi Sanjay said that the meeting was an “utter flop BRS film release function” that was held only to criticise the Centre and expressed doubt whether the chief ministers who attended the meeting had come “to settle the accounts of the Delhi liquor scam”.
Addressing the media at the Telangana Bhavan in New Delhi, Sanjay wondered why former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar chose not to attend the meeting. Alleging that the chief ministers who did attend the public meeting were involved in liquor, mining and gold scams, he said that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao could be “great liquor buddies”.
Terming BRS as “Bandipotla (dacoits) Rashtra Samithi” and KCR a “traitor” for not raising “Jai Telangana” slogan at the public meeting, Sanjay made a point-by-point rebuttal of the CM’s allegations and promises in his speech.
On Rao’s promise of rolling back the Agnipath recruitment in the armed forces if the BRS came to power, he wanted to know the defence policy of BRS. He claimed that Agnipath was the brainchild of late chief of defence staff Bipin Rawat, who he said, was far more knowledgeable than Rao.Calling the chief minister a “joker”, the BJP MP said that the former should have explained how many promises he has fulfilled in Telangana, instead of criticising the Central government.