HYDERABAD: Asserting that the Congress is the only secular party “from Delhi to Galli”, Irrigation & Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday said that it can defeat the BJP and its allies both in the state and at the Centre.
Addressing representatives from minority communities in Yousufguda as part of the poll campaign for the Jubilee Hills byelection, he said regional parties like the BRS were “politically unreliable” as they “help the BJP’s growth by dividing the secular vote”.
The meeting was also attended by TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud, ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and Mohammad Azharuddin and other senior leaders. “The BRS will meet the same fate as the TDP,” Uttam said, recalling that the TDP’s opportunistic alliance with the BJP led to its political decline.
“Wherever regional parties grow, the Congress suffers and BJP gains. The BRS too has been acting as a silent partner of the BJP. It never protested when the BJP reduced budgets for minorities or targeted their educational and employment opportunities,” he said.
He said that while the BRS regime failed to protect minority institutions and interests, the Congress had a long and verifiable record of empowerment. He said that nearly 80 per cent of minority colleges had been closed during the BRS regime, and welfare schemes for minority men were left incomplete.
“In contrast, the Congress government announced a Minority Declaration with a Rs 4,000 crore budget and a Minority Sub-Plan. Out of this, Rs 1,000 crore subsidy was earmarked for the first two years. Though not fully released yet, the process has started, and the implementation is underway,” he explained.
Uttam reiterated that Congress’ fight for minority rights was not limited to Telangana but extended across India. “Only the Congress has the experience, strength and moral authority to stand up to BJP’s communal politics. Our ideology of secularism is not seasonal — it is structural, consistent and proven,” he added.
