BJP\'s win in Munugode will lead to fixing meters to farm connections: KCR

Munugode: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Saturday called upon the Munugode electorate to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the ensuing bypoll as its victory would be construed as an endorsement of its anti-farmer policies and would embolden it to implement the metering of agricultural connections.

Addressing a mammoth public gathering in Munugode, the Chief Minister also announced that the Communist Party of India (CPI) had extended support to the TRS in Munugode and the CPI (Marxist) would soon join forces.

Hinting at a possible electoral alliance in the next general elections with the Left parties, Rao said that the understanding with the Left was not limited to the Munugode bypoll but would continue as part of the realignment of secular and progressive forces to defeat the divisive BJP.

Highlighting what he described as the BJP’s ill-intentioned efforts to corporatise agriculture through enhancing fertiliser prices and insisting on metering farm connections, the Chief Minister said: “If the BJP wins, he (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) will say that the people defeated KCR who refused to fix meters to pump sets. They will knock me down, come to your borewell and fix meters. You pray to the gas cylinder and agri pump sets before casting your vote,” he said amidst loud cheering by the crowds.

Maintaining that it would not be just another bypoll but a litmus test deciding the very existence of farmers, Rao told the gathering that the country had been looking forward for the outcome as it would reflect the thought process of Telangana people. “You are my strength and courage. What can I do if you weaken me,” he added

He repeatedly promised the crowds that he would be brief in his speech but they should go back to villages and put the content of the speech for wider debate. The TRS government had eradicated the decades-old fluoride crisis in Nalgonda district, implemented Rythu Bandhu, harnessed Godavari waters to irrigate parts of combined Nalgonda district, enhanced pension from Rs 300 to Rs 2,500- Rs 3,000 and all this should be explained to people, the Chief Minister said.

Referring to Union home minister Amit Shah’s Sunday meeting, Chandrasekhar Rao demanded that the BJP explain to people why the Centre had not made fresh allocations of Krishna waters even eight years after state bifurcation. Former MLA Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy should shed his silence and make the BJP take up water sharing which would help starting work on the Sivannagudem lift irrigation project in Munugode, he added.

Stating that a vote for the Congress in Munugode was a waste, the TRS supremo said people should extend all their support to one party that could take on the BJP. Predicting doom, he said Modi’s “arrogance and highhandedness” were his biggest enemies that would ensure the fall of the BJP.