Warangal: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Saturday launched a scathing attack on TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy, dubbing him ‘Rifle Reddy’ and accusing him of being hand-in-glove with “Andhra Rulers” during the Telangana statehood agitation.
Addressing a public meeting in Cherial of Jangaon in support of BRS candidate Palla Rajeshwary Reddy, the Chief Minister, without naming the TPCC chief, alleged Revanth had pointed a rifle at Telangana activists.
“When Telangana statehood agitation was at its peak in 2009, he sided with Chandrababu Naidu. He carried a rifle and pointed at Telangana activists in Karimnagar. From that day, he was named ‘Rifle Reddy’. His own partymen call him ‘Rifle Reddy’,” Rao said.
“He not only did this, he even said he would offer ‘pindam (a Hindu ritual of offering food to the departed soul)’ to me in the floodwaters. Is it acceptable for him to abuse Telangana activists and a person like me, who sat on fast unto death agitation to secure statehood?” Rao said.
Urging people to decide for themselves who they would offer ‘pindam’ to in the polls, he questioned whether Revanth’s repeated abuse of his opponents counted as politics. “Tell your party's policy in your public meetings,” Rao said.
Referring to Revanth's public meeting in Jangaon three days ago, wherein he had lashed out at BRS candidate Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, Rao said, “Palla seems to be worried a lot about this. I tell Palla to ignore him. There are several dogs that bark at us while we go. Is there a need to count such dogs? Especially a dog that barked in Jangaon and pointed a rifle at Telangana activists in Karimnagar.”
Rao claimed a nexus between the BJP and Congress to confine him to Telangana, to ensure BRS did not expand into Maharashtra. He said Telangana was ruined during Congress’ rule, while the BJP, in its nine-year tenure at the Centre, failed to sanction a single medical college or Navodaya School to Telangana since its formation in 2014.
“Both Congress and BJP are scared of KCR. They feel if he wins in Telangana, he'll come to Maharashtra and play the flute to destroy them. As many as 150 panchayats in Maharashtra passed resolutions requesting merger with Telangana and that is their worry,” Rao said.
He alleged that Congress and BJP had a tacit understanding not to put up strong candidates against each other in Telangana. “They feel safe if KCR is defeated in Telangana. This is what is happening,” he said.
He said the BRS was born for the achievement of Telangana statehood and to protect the rights of its people. He also asked the people to compare the development of the state during the past 10 years with that of under 50 years of Congress rule.
He alleged that it was the Congress that merged Telangana and Andhra Pradesh without the consent of the people, causing suffering for the past 50 years.
“During Congress rule, the situation was chaotic in Telangana. They never cared. There were no drinking water facilities. There were suicides. It was the Congress that ruined Telangana," he said.
He said it was his government which increased the social pension to Rs 2,000 first and more, which was meagre before 2014. Rao said the social pensions and the Rythu Bandhu aid would be gradually increased if the BRS is voted to power again.
He said Telangana is the only state that did not levy irrigation water tax in the country.
“If the Congress wins, power supply will be limited to only three hours as against the present 24 hours… the Karnataka government promised 20 hours free power during the Assembly elections but ended up giving just five hours,” Rao said.
He said that he also refused to implement Prime Minister Narendra Modi's orders asking the state to fix meters to agriculture pump sets despite Telangana losing Rs 25,000-crore fund from the Centre in the past five years.
