Hyderabad: Chief Minister and BRS party president K. Chandrashekar Rao on Wednesday declared that “there was no way” TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy would become the next Chief Minister of Telangana, adding that the “Congress would not even win 20 seats in the elections” to the state Assembly.
Chandrashekar Rao also warned that the Congress’ threat to do away with the Dharani portal was “not just a serious issue but a matter of life and death for farmers” of Telangana.
Chandrashekar Rao, addressing a BRS meeting in Kodangal, from where Revanth Reddy is contesting against BRS’ P. Narender Reddy, said any talk of Revanth Reddy becoming the Chief Minister “is fake,” adding “people like him are a curse and a plague for the state and should not be in politics.”
He said there was no point in people wasting their votes on Revanth Reddy or the Congress, which, in any case, was not going to come to power in the state.
He further said Revanth Reddy was facing a merciless defeat in the Kamareddy constituency and urged the people of Kodangal to also defeat him.
Rao is contesting from Kamareddy and Gajwel, winning the latter seat in the 2014 and 2018 elections. In Kamareddy, he will face Revanth Reddy — who will contest Kamareddy in addition to Kodangal — and the BJP’s K. Venkata Ramana Reddy.
Calling Revanth Reddy “a foul-mouthed person with no boundaries and one who heaps abuse on others,” Chandrashekar Rao said: “He is a big land grabber, but says Congress will throw Dharani into the Bay of Bengal. He is a thief who was caught with '50 lakh while trying to bribe BRS MLAs and has no shame despite being thrown in prison; and he claims going to prison was like earning a medal. His own party leaders say he sold tickets for the elections.”
Chandrashekar Rao said the people of Kodangal should think if they wanted a person like Revanth Reddy or “Narender Reddy, who worked hard for the people and brought a hospital, bus depot to the constituency with KTR adopting the constituency.”
Addressing a series of public meetings in Tandur, Kodangal, Mahbubnagar and Parigi constituencies, he repeatedly stressed that Congress’ plans to scrap Dharani would directly impact the Rythu Bandhu scheme and its disbursals.
“How will Rythu Bandhu funds come if Dharani is removed? This is not just a serious issue but a matter of life and death for farmers. Since so much is at stake, everyone must think about this seriously. Congress says it will bring back the old system, which means there will again be patwaris, the old story of middlemen and corruption. We got Dharani with great difficulty, ensured 24-hour power and Congress says it will remove these too,” he said.
Chandrashekar Rao, addressing Congress leaders’ claims about Rao trying to cling to power, said: “They are fools, idiots, I am not fighting for any post. The goal is to have a poverty-free Telangana, a fully literate Telangana, and we are fighting for these. I have been CM twice already with the blessing of the people. The dream is to make Telangana no.1 on all fronts. This fight is being fought with that commitment.”
In Parigi, the BRS president said the elections were coming at a point just when farmers’ lives started changing for the better. “If they get free power and Rythu Bandhu for another 10 or 15 years, farmers would be able to take care of themselves and invest their own money in agriculture. The day that happens is when the ‘Bangaru Telangana’ dream will be fulfilled,” he said.
He also said people should not make voting choices in haste or based on promises made by parties in the fray, but by evaluating the candidates and the track record of parties the candidates belong to.
Juxtaposing the BRS' governance over the past 10 years against the 50-odd years of Congress rule before the formation of Telangana, Rao urged people not to vote for the Congress, “which will undo everything the BRS government did for the people in its two terms so far.”
