Join Congress to save democracy from BJP: Uttam Kumar Reddy

Hyderabad: AICC Telangana state incharge R.C. Kunthia on Sunday asked professionals to speak the truth about the issues confronting the country like demonetisation, faulty implementation of GST and falling growth rates so that the people will get a proper perspective.

He said the silence of intellectuals and professionals would be a blot on the parliamentary form of democracy and the nation would suffer.

Mr Kunthia was speaking at the All India Professional Congress conference here on Sunday. South India Professional Congress co-ordinator Dr J. Geetha Reddy, who presided over the programme appealed to professionals to join the Congress so that their intelligence is properly channelled.

She announced the appointment of TPCC general secretary Dasoju Sravan as president of the Professional Congress for Telangana state.

TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy appealed to professionals to join the Congress and save democracy which was under threat under the BJP and TRS governments. He said the professionals had remained associated with the Congress for decades but had drifted to the BJP and Mr Narendra Modi in 2014.

He said they had realised the “true colours” of Mr Modi and had started returning to the Congress fold. He said there was no organisation to take up issues concerning professionals.

He accused Mr Modi and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao of throttling democracy and dismantling democratic institutions. Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy said the TS Assembly was being misused to carry out propaganda of government schemes and the Opposition was not getting time to express its views. He said the misuse of Assembly has put the democratic set-up in grave danger. A similar situation prevailed at the national level, he said.

Congress will prioritise problem-solving: Uttam

TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Sunday promised that the Congress, after coming to power in 2019, would give priority to resolving problems being faced by tribals. Despite several sacrifices, tribals had failed to get justice.

He said though the STs traditionally supported the Congress, they were lured by promises made by the TRS in 2014. Their dreams were shattered as the Chandrasekhar Rao regime placed the community on the non-priority list.
Addressing a meeting organised by the Lambada Hakkula Porata Samithi at Nagarjunasagar, the TPCC chief said ST communities had lost thousands of jobs and seats as the quota had not been increased from six to nine per cent in proportion with their population. This could have been done with an executive order, he said.

Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy said the TRS government had failed to constitute SC and ST commissions and had weakened the mechanism set up to deal with issues concerning Dalits and tribals.

He referred to the Khammam market yard incident where chilli farmers belonging to the ST communities were arrested and hand-cuffed because they demanded remunerative prices.

He said the government had failed to set up the steel plant at Bayyaram which could have provided jobs to hundreds of tribals.Leader of Opposition in the Assembly K. Jana Reddy said the Congress would raise the issues of the community in the Assembly session.