Polls in TS fought on money power: Etala

Hyderabad: Huzurabad BJP legislator Etala Rajendar has said that there was an urgent need to change the way elections were being fought in Telangana where money power was driving politics. Rajendar was speaking at the BJP’s national executive meeting in New Delhi after introducing the party’s political resolution.

He said the conditions in Telangana had been brought to such a stage that money had become the key component of elections and this menace has reached such proportions that some political leaders are scared to contest polls as they could not match the spending by some others.

“Some Chief Ministers were claiming that they are spending money for the people and claiming individual credit for doing so. The reality is whether it is the Centre or the states, it is the government that spends money for the people. Unlike some Chief Ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not make such claims. The practice of some claiming credit for spending public money as if it is their own must change,” he said.

People were being misled through distribution of money before polling, Rajendar said. In Telangana, even after elections were announced, the state government had introduced Dalit Bandhu scheme. The government was holding the people to ransom for votes, threatening them that funds for development in their areas will be held back if they did not vote for the ruling party, Rajendar said.