HYDERABAD: Solemnly swearing that he would never allow the BRS to rise again in the state, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday made it clear that anyone trying to, or conspiring to scuttle development works and come in the way of government functioning would land in jail.
Indirectly referring to BRS leaders, he said: “You may try to obstruct using “hired persons”, but we will unravel your conspiracies and send you to jail.”
Addressing a public meeting in Warangal as part of the “Praja Palana-Vijayotsavalu” celebrations, Revanth alleged that the BRS did nothing for Telangana during its rule from 2014 to 2023. “You did nothing for Telangana. Now you have lost power. Be silent and don’t create obstacles. If you do so, you will not even secure deposits in the next elections,” he said.
In a stinging attack on his predecessor K Chandrasekhar Rao, Revanth said: “KCR is the president of a “Drunkards Association”. During his rule, belt shops sprang up in every village. KCR is brand ambassador of full or half bottle (of liquor). He made Telangana a state for drunkards. Fortunately, the people realised it and voted against him in 2023.”
Reacting to KCR’s recent remarks that the people have started realising what they have lost in the last year of Congress rule, the chief minister said: “Telangana did not lose anything, except four jobs in your family. You sleep in your farmhouse. If you need, we will instruct a liquor distributor to supply bottles to you and we will foot the bill.”
Challenging KCR to attend the Assembly sessions, Revanth said: “I am asking KCR to decide the date and come to the Assembly for debates. Mingle with the people and speak. Give suggestions to the government.” He said that though Congress lost three elections at the national level, Rahul Gandhi is always available to the people. “Learn from Rahul Gandhi,” Revanth said to KCR.
Hitting out at BJP state president G Kishan Reddy for his remarks on the Musi project, Revanth said: “KCR will speak first and Kishan will read the same script the next day. Kishan welcomed and appreciated Sabarmati riverfront development project, but is opposing the Musi project. Kishan has lost the right to stay in Telangana, he should move to Gujarat and live there.”
Committed to implementing loan waiver in full: Revanth
Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “Telangana traitor”, Revanth said: “Sonia Gandhi is our mother. She is mother of all Telangana people. Without her, Telangana state would never have been formed. Modi is a Telangana traitor. He insulted the formation of Telangana in Parliament.”
Turning his attention to the achievements of his government in the last one year, the chief minister said that women were being given priority in the state.
“We are making efforts to turn women who are part of self help groups (SHGs) into entrepreneurs. Financial assistance of Rs 34,000 crore is being given to SHGs. Over 1.10 crore women benefited with free bus rides and saved Rs 3,700 crore. We are supplying 200 units of free power to 50 lakh families. The government is supplying LPG cylinders for Rs 500. Is BJP supplying (LPG cylinders at Rs 500) anywhere in the country? Women in Telangana are spending the money they save (through state government schemes) to educate their children,” Revanth said.
Admitting that crop loan waiver was not fully completed due to few technical reasons like errors in bank account numbers, he assured the gathering that his government was committed to implementing the scheme in full.
Meanwhile, the farmers can update their details with banks to clear the errors, he said.
‘Rs 18,000 crore crop loans waived so far’
Recalling that so far, his government has waived crop loans worth Rs 18,000 crore, Revanth said: “The previous BRS regime left the state reeling under a debt of Rs 7 lakh crore. Every month, the government is getting Rs 18,500 crore in revenue, of which Rs 6,500 crore is going for paying salaries to employees and another Rs 6,500 for paying interest on the loans taken by the previous government. We have to spend the remaining Rs 5,500 crore judiciously. By saving money, we waived crop loans.”
Accusing KCR of betraying and neglecting the city of Warangal, Revanth said: “Warangal is a historical city. We planned to develop Warangal on the lines of Hyderabad. Warangal should compete with Hyderabad and should attract the world. My government sanctioned Rs 6,000 crore for development of Warangal city. The development of Warangal should be treated as the development of half of Telangana.”
Recalling that his government has started the process to develop the airport at Mamnoor, the chief minister said: “In Maharashtra there is an airport for every 100-150 km, but in Telangana there is only one airport. I am asking the Union government why we should not have more airports. We will develop airports in Warangal, Ramagundam, Adilabad and Kothagudem.”