Hyderabad: In the cusp of the election year, with state Assembly elections scheduled in December 2023, TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, accusing him of stifling democracy and threatening to overthrow the democratically elected TRS government for criticising the “ill-conceived policies” of the Centre.
Addressing a public meeting at the MVS College ground in Mahbubnagar on Sunday, the CM, who is fostering national political aspirations by founding the BRS, alleged that Modi was attempting to overthrow non-BJP state governments, while recalling that the PM had claimed (during the West Bengal elections) that 40 MLAs of the Trinamul Congress were in contact with him.
"The PM threatened, ‘KCR, I will overthrow your government'. What message are you trying to send and what is it that we should understand from this? Were we not elected, like your government? Have we not won the people’s mandate? Why would you overthrow my government,” Rao asked.
“Can a Prime Minister visit West Bengal and say ‘Mamata Banerjee, your 40 MLAs are in touch with us’? How can a Prime Minister speak in such a manner? Is it democratic to buy MLAs,” he asked.
Interestingly, the CM avoided mentioning the raids by central investigating agencies for the first time since several of his ministers came on the radar of the the ED and the income-tax department, but merely stated that the BJP was targeting leaders of non-BJP ruled states.
"When some thieves came to Hyderabad to lure TRS MLAs recently, create instability and topple our government, we caught them, put them in jail," he said. The CM accused the Centre of discriminating against Telangana, while urging people, especially youths and intellectuals, to support him and TRS, and question the Centre on its inefficiency, failing which people will suffer decades from now.
Further, he stated that Telangana had lost Rs 3 lakh crore in GSDP (gross state domestic product) as a result of the "inefficient government" at the Centre. "If the Centre had cooperated, our GSDP would be at Rs 14.5 lakh crore instead of Rs 11.5 lakh crore. Both TRS and BJP came to power at the same time in 2014. Our GSDP increased from Rs 5 lakh crore in 2014 to Rs 11.5 crore today. However, this was not accomplished at the national level by the inefficient Central government "
The CM claimed that in addition to cutting back on state loans and stopping funding, the Centre was creating obstacles in the way of Telangana, which was outpacing the rest of the nation in terms of development. “Is it fair for the PM and the Centre to block the progress of a state? The Central government doesn’t work nor does it allow others to work. If anyone questions, they will threaten to topple democratically elected state governments. Is this the way,” Rao asked.
He slammed the NDA government at the Centre for failing to determine Telangana's share in Krishna River water in the last eight years due to which the Palamuru-Rangareddy project could not be completed.
He said the TRS would play a key role in national politics and in the nation’s development by transforming itself as the BRS. “It's not enough if Telangana alone progresses. The entire nation has to progress like Telangana. With your support in the state, I will take up the fight at the national level to develop the country on the lines of Telangana. Let us all together lay the foundation for the country’s development from Telangana,” he declared.
