ADILABAD: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday alleged that the Congress in Telangana was sowing the seeds of division among people through “divisive and appeasement politics”.
Addressing a BJP rally at Sirpur Kagaznagar as part of the party’s campaign for the upcoming municipal elections, Fadnavis said Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was hoping to remain in power by appeasing certain sections of society.
“He has started a dangerous game. I want to remind you that some Congress leaders had, in a way, played a similar game before Independence. The result was the division of the country and the formation of Pakistan, and later Bangladesh,” he said.
Fadnavis alleged that the Congress government was following similar “divisive policies” by splitting society along religious lines and granting reservations to people of other religions by taking them away from SCs and STs. He said future generations would question their parents about what they did when such divisive discourse was taking place.
Expressing confidence that the BJP’s recent electoral success in Maharashtra would have an impact in Telangana, Fadnavis said the “winds of the BJP’s thumping victory” in the neighbouring state would reach Telangana as well.
“Out of 280 municipalities in Maharashtra, the BJP won 240. Of the 29 municipal corporations, the BJP and its allies secured mayoral posts in 26,” he said, adding that for the first time, a BJP mayor was being elected in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation.
He alleged that Telangana, which was a revenue-surplus state at the time of its formation in 2014, had now become debt-ridden due to “corruption under the BRS and Congress governments”. In contrast, he claimed, BJP-ruled states had achieved rapid development.
‘BRS, Congress governments failed to pay compensation’
Recalling that he had agreed to an inter-state agreement on the use of Godavari river water when the then chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao approached him in 2015, Fadnavis said the decision helped expand irrigation in Telangana. However, he alleged that both the BRS and Congress governments had failed to provide funds for compensation to farmers whose land was acquired in Maharashtra.
“You can see the intentions of the BRS and Congress. They even betray those who gave them water. How can they then work for the welfare of the people?” he asked.
Alleging that municipalities had been neglected for 70 years, Fadnavis said it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who ensured funding for the development of towns and cities through schemes such as Smart Cities and Amrit Bharat. He said funds sanctioned by the Prime Minister would reach municipalities only if the state and local body governments cooperated, and urged people to vote for the BJP.
When Sirpur BJP MLA Palvai Harish Babu submitted a memorandum seeking Maharashtra’s support for the Pranahitha–Chevella project, Fadnavis assured that he would discuss the issue after the municipal elections. He also said he would take up the proposed Bellampalli–Gadchiroli national highway project with Union minister Nitin Gadkari.