Choose between constructive BRS and destructive' Congress, says KCR

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Sunday appealed to the people to choose between the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, which played a constructive role in shaping the newest state in the country into a wealthy one achieving integrated development, and a “destructive” Congress.

In his two-and-a-half hour reply to a short discussion on ‘Telangana state formation – progress achieved in the own state’ in the Assembly, perhaps his last speech for the term as the state heads to the polls later this year, the Chief Minister explained in detail the philosophy behind every flagship initiative of his government, be it Mission Kakatiya, Mission Bhagiratha, the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project or the Dharani portal.

He said that enormous research and brainstorming went into the conception of the schemes before their launch, and the hard work had made them successful.

On the contrary, the Chief Minister said that the Congress had neither the vision nor the commitment to take forward development. “Does any Congress leader at least know what is a contour and at what level each irrigation project should be built to ensure maximum benefits?” he asked.

Rao cautioned against the state drifting to the dark days of previous Congress and Telugu Desam rules that were marked by a shortage of power, water and fertilisers, and left it to farmers to take a wise decision. He also accused the Congress of attempting to bring back land encroachment by scrapping the Dharani portal, which, like no other state, empowered the farmer community with regard to the title of the property, the Chief Minister said.

By drawing a comparison between his rule and that of the Congress and repeatedly referring to CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka’s accusations, besides almost ignoring the BJP, the Chief Minister inadvertently admitted that his electoral fight is going to be with the Congress.

However, he exuded confidence that his party would return to power winning at least five to six more seats than it did in 2018.

Rao listed per capita income of Rs 3.12 lakh, which was higher than several developed states, 24-hour power supply to all the sectors, record paddy output of 3 crore-plus metric tonnes, perennially-filled water bodies, flow of Rs 2.5 lakh crore investments into the state, eradication of deadly fevers in tribal areas, distribution of podu pattas to four lakh tribals and financial assistance to farmers through Rythu Bandhu as some of his government’s achievements.

The Chief Minister said that he wanted to take people down memory lane to remind them of the numerous insults made by Andhra-origin leaders, their betrayal of Telangana people and how the latter fought back.

In a bid to puncture the Congress’ claims of carving out the state, the Chief Minister said it was out of compulsion that the party created Telangana. He also made some interesting comments that after then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy's death, the Congress mishandled his son Jagan Mohan Reddy, who went on to win elections with a massive mandate.

“The Congress was facing an adverse situation across the country and had declared Telangana statehood hoping to win at least 10 Lok Sabha seats from the new state,” Rao said.

He also gave an elaborate account of his struggle and his readiness to sacrifice his life for the cause of statehood. “I declared that it would be either victory lap for Telangana or funeral procession of KCR,” he said.