Hyderabad, Bengaluru Sister Cities, Both Will Grow: DK Shivakumar

Hyderabad: Both Hyderabad and Bengaluru are great cities of India, which have made the country proud by being at the forefront of technology, job creation and have contributed significantly to the economy of the country. Both will prosper and grow further in coming days, and the competition will be healthy, giving our youth wonderful opportunities, said Karnataka deputy chief minister D. K. Shivakumar here on Saturday.

While interacting with the media at a Congress party event, Mr Shivakumar said he was sure of two things – one, that the Congress was going to win in all five states going to the elections – Telangana, Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram – and that the win in Telangana would be big, after which all six guarantees will start getting implemented.

However, in response to a question on specific numbers based on his survey, he said, “I am busy campaigning as you can see. I will work on the numbers and release them. After the Karnataka polls, in which I gave the exact number of seats – 136 (135 Congress members and one allied candidate representing a farmer’s association), I have become known as a bit of a psephologist.”

When asked to comment on the criticism of BRS leaders, including Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and minister K. T. Rama Rao that the newly elected Congress government could not implement its five guarantees, Mr Shivakumar said, “we have already implemented four of the five promises. The fifth has been scheduled for December. I welcome all BRS leaders to come to Karnataka for a few hours to check for themselves.”

Speaking on the six guarantees given by the Congress in Telangana, he said, “our party has not given guarantees for votes or to win elections. In the last decade, the economic situation has become very bad for common people. Families are finding it hard to sustain. Hence, we are trying to ensure social justice as well as economic well being of all sections.”

“When we give Rs 2,500 per month to women, or Rs 4,000 pension to senior citizens, or supply gas cylinders at Rs 500 each, or give free bus travel, or 200 units of power free, it is helping society and people recover from the economic distress. And it will be very easy to fund all our commitments… just the cost of corruption of the KCR family is enough to pay for all the schemes,” he said.

Responding to another question, he said, “the only thing KCR says is lies. Let them do all the criticisms of Congress, people in Telangana have decided to vote overwhelmingly for change.”