KTR lambasts BJP for scrapping ITIR project, terms Centre ‘a curse on TS’

HYDERABAD: IT minister K.T. Rama Rao on Friday castigated the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, terming it as a ‘curse on Telangana’, following a statement by the Union government in Parliament that the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) project for Hyderabad stood scrapped.

The BJP government at the Centre was ‘indulging in cheap politics,’ Rama Rao said, adding that the Modi government scrapped the ITIR project because the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) was politically opposing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Calling scrapping of the ITIR shameful, Rama Rao said the statement of Union minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Parliament clearly showed how the Modi government had cheated the people of the country.

Severely criticising the Centre, Rama Rao said there was no truth in its claim that it granted other projects to compensate for the ITIR project.

He said it was incorrect on the part of the Centre to say that the ITIR was scrapped because it sanctioned smart cities and industrial corridors to Telangana. He ridiculed the BJP government for claiming to have scrapped a project dedicated for IT sector development in lieu of other non-IT projects.

“Telangana did not benefit even from the schemes that the Union government claims to have extended. This shows the intellectual bankruptcy of the Modi government,” Rama Rao added.

The BJP-governed states like Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh received huge funds under various Central schemes. “But when it comes to Telangana, every penny is counted and shown as a reason to scrap projects,” Rama Rao said. “What has the Modi government given to Hyderabad as ITIR’s replacement? The Prime Minister must answer,” he demanded.

Lying was in the BJP’s DNA, he said, and added that Union minister Chandrasekhar effortlessly did the same now. Despite several pleas to the Prime Minister and other Union ministers during visits to Delhi by him and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, there was no positive response even after continuous persuasion from their side, he said.

Rama Rao also said after witnessing the Centre’s inaction, he gave multiple representations to announce any scheme that would boost Hyderabad’s IT sector, on the lines of ITIR project. But not a single penny was sanctioned for Hyderabad’s IT sector, he added.

Modi must apologise to the youth of Telangana for failing to deliver on his promises, Rama Rao said.