LS polls a public referendum on Cong. govt’s performance, says Revanth

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday said he will consider the electoral mandate in forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in Telangana as a referendum on the performance of his government in the past 100 days.

In an informal chat with mediapersons in his chambers at the Secretariat, Reddy exuded confidence that his party will win “double digit” seats in Telangana in the Lok Sabha polls and the BJP and BRS would be confined to single digits.

“I appeal to voters to assess the performance of the Congress government since it assumed office on December 7 last and vote for Congress in Lok Sabha polls. We reached out to every section in the last 100 days. We resolved legal complications in the job recruitment process and filled nearly 30,000 vacancies. We have credited Rythu Bandhu amount of over `4,000 crore in the accounts of farmers. We are paying salaries and pensions for staff and retired staff on the first of every month. I am confident that the voters of Telangana will recognise the efforts and achievements of Congress government within a span of just 100 days and support Congress in LS polls,” Revanth said.

Accusing BRS and BJP of a secret pact to defeat the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls, Reddy said, “The manner in which Chandrashekar Rao declared BRS candidates in the first phase is itself a big proof that BRS and BJP are in cahoots against Congress. KCR declared BRS candidates for Khammam, Mahabubabad, Peddapalli and Karimnagar Lok Sabha seats. All these constituencies are those where Congress bagged majority seats in recent Assembly polls. Why did KCR not declare seats for other Lok Sabha seats? I have information that KCR declared candidates for these seats as part of understanding with BJP.”

Reddy said that his comments calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi “elder brother” and talking about ‘Gujarat model’ at Modi's meeting in Adilabad on Monday were blown out of proportion by a section of media.

“A section of the media got confused and misinterpreted my comments. I was only trying to tell PM that all states require the support of Centre to undertake development projects and in the same manner Telangana state also requires Centre's support. I talked about ‘Gujarat model’ because PM Modi sanctioned funds to Gujarat to undertake development projects and urged him to extend same support to Telangana. Elder brother is the one who takes care of the younger ones. PM heads the country and what's wrong in calling PM an elder brother who has to take care of all states?” Revanth said.

He rubbished the demand of BRS leaders to repair Medaram and Annaram barrages of the Kaleshwaram project immediately and lift Godavari water to provide irrigation and drinking water. He made it clear that the state government will decide the future course of action on the barrages only after the expert committee of National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) submits its report in four months.

“The Centre has constituted NDSA expert committee to examine the barrages. It has been asked to submit report within four months. We will wait for NDSA report to take a decision on how to go about on undertaking repairs for barrages. The preliminary report of NDSA clearly stated that the Medaram barrage pillars have sunk and it is in dangerous condition. Annaram barrage is also witnessing seepages. How can we lift water and fill these barrages with water as demanded by BRS leaders? Who will take the responsibility if these barrages get washed away after filling with water and cause huge destruction to lives and property in surrounding villages?” he said.