HYDERABAD: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday unveiled the SC/ST Declaration of the party for the upcoming Assembly elections at a public meeting in Chevella. He promised that if the Congress was elected in the elections, the party;s government would enhance reservations for the SC and ST communities, and implement '12 lakh per family Girijan Bandhu and increase Dalit Bandhu aid to '12 lakh.
Speaking at the event, Kharge called on people to unseat the BRS, which, he said, was behaving like it delivered Telangana statehood on its own. He also claimed that the party must be dethroned due to “a secret understanding” with the BJP.
The Congress chief’s meeting was awash with symbolism as the event started with obeisance to balladeer Gaddar, who died recently. Kharge said that Chevella was a special place for the party, citing a padayatra undertaken by Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy that previously helped the party win the polls.
Continuing his attack on BRS, Kharge said that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao was treating Telangana like his “personal fiefdom”.
“Having come all the way and thanking Sonia Gandhi, he seems to have forgotten that statehood was everyone’s dream and Congress played a pivotal role in delivering it,” Kharge said.
Expressing profound gratitude to people for attending the rally in huge numbers, he urged them to work together “to defeat KCR in the state and Modi at the Centre”. He pointed out that both the BJP leaders and Chandrashekar Rao had stopped speaking against one another, claiming it as evidence of a deal between the parties.
Countering the BJP’s repeated questioning of what the Congress had accomplished in 53 years of its rule, Kharge said, “It was the Congress which united the 562 princely states to make one strong India. Who merged Hyderabad with India? It was Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel who united India. Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi laid down their lives for safeguarding the unity and integrity of the country and they keep on asking what Congress did. It was Indira Gandhi who broke Pakistan into two parts and liberated Bangladesh.”
Kharge said that the Congress gave the country a Constitution, democracy, unity and integrity, to name a few accomplishments. “Dr B.R. Ambedkar drafted the Constitution, which provided reservations for the Dalits,” he said, attributing his current standing to it.
Taking a dig at the Telangana government, he said that “some people distribute small doles at the time of election”. The AICC chief accused the BRS of tweaking Congress’ policies, like the Food Security Act, to hoodwink voters. He dared Chandrashekar Rao to list his accomplishments for Telangana.
In the same vein, the AICC also rapped Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah. Listing further accomplishments of the Congress, he said: “We set up IITs, IIMs, Isro, SAIL and HAL just to name a few; the list is too long.”
He also said the Congress set up a strong network of public sector undertakings across the country.
“Similarly,” he added, “the Congress introduced land reforms and abolished the zamindari (feudal) system and went ahead with it despite strong resistance. In this context, the land taken away by the KCR government from Dalits and tribals will again be restored to them once the Congress forms government in the state,” Kharge said.
Assuring voters that the Congress was delivering on promises made to the people in Karnataka, he said, “On August 30, we are launching the Gruha Lakshmi scheme in Mysore. Sonia and Rahul have always delivered on their promises.”
Referring to 12 announcements made by the Telangana Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy, Kharge said the same was “received well by the people”, promising to implement each promise.
Concluding his speech, Kharge asked people to switch on the lights of their mobile handsets, turning the whole venue into a bright and sparkling spectacle amid slogans of “Jai Hind” ringing loudly.
TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy, addressing the gathering, also recalled the role played by Chevella in bringing the party back to power.
Recalling the role of Gaddar in launching the second phase of the Telangana movement, he said, “Sonia gave Telangana in deference to the wishes and sacrifices of 1,200 people. This declaration is the fourth after the farmers, youth and welfare agenda announced in Warangal, Hyderabad and Khammam meetings. This last phase of Telangana is for freedom, proportionate representation and equal development of all areas of the state.”
Attacking the ruling party, Revanth said: “KCR failed to keep his promise to give three-acre plots to Dalits, double-bedrooms and share of Krishna and Godavari water to the state. KCR and Modi are two sides of the same coin.”
“The agenda of the Congress is to give SC/STs their due share in development. We are giving them their due through reservations in education, giving them land and share in the development through share in contracts. Having walked all the way from Adilabad to Khammam, I observed the problems plaguing the people and convinced the party on the issues faced by the people,” said CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka.
Among those present were AICC Telangana incharge Manikrao Thakre, Vikram, Renuka Chowdhury, Mohammad Azharuddin, Meenakshi Natarajan, Uttam Kumar Reddy, K. Raju, Damodar Raja Narsimha, V. Hanumantha Rao, Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Balram Naik, Seethakka, K. Jana Reddy, D. Sridhar Babu, Mohd Shabbir Ali, Dr Sampath Kumar, Vamshi Chand Reddy and DCC president Narsimha Reddy.
THE CHEVELLA DECLARATION
The Congress reached out to the Dalits in the form of a 12-Point declaration at its Chevella meeting on Saturday. The declaration was released by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge
The Congress said it would hold a BC Garjana tentatively scheduled between September 6 and 9, depending on the availability of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, in Shadnagar.
· Increase SC reservations 18%, proportionate to population. Ensure implementation of categorisation of reservation.
· Implement Ambedkar Abhaya Hastham, financial assistance of Rs 12 lakh per SC and ST family within five years, starting from 2023-24, by providing requisite Budget allocation.
· Provide 18% quota for SCs, 12% for STs in government procurement and public work contracts, reservations in private educational institutions and jobs in private companies that avail government incentives.
· House site and Rs 6 lakhs for construction of houses, under Indiramma pucca houses scheme to cover all homeless SC and ST families in five years
· Land assigned to SC and ST beneficiaries but taken over by BRS government to be restored to the assignees. Assigned land will be treated on par with patta land for payment of compensation
· Forest Rights Act, will be strictly implemented to provide pattas for podu land to all eligible beneficiaries.
· Sammakka Sarakka Girijana Graminabhivrudhi Pathakam (SGGP) to provide annual grant of Rs 25 Lakh to each tanda and gudem gram panchayats.
* Three new SC Corporations — one each of the Mala and Madiga communities and another for most downtrodden SC sub-castes —with grant of Rs 750 crore each.
* Three Tribal Corporations with Rs 500 crore each annually: The Tukaram Adivasi Corporation would be for Koya, Gond, Pradhan and Andh communities; Sant Sevalal Lambada Corporation for Lambadasl Yerukula Corporation for Yerukulas and other plains tribes.
* Five plains area Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) offices in Nalgonda, Mahbubabad, Khammam, Nizamabad and Mahbubnagar; superspeciality hospitals at all ITDA headquarters
* Vidya Jyothulu Pathakam, to provide Rs 10,000 for SC, ST students on passing Class 10, Rs 15,000 on passing Intermediate, Rs 25,000 on graduation, and Rs 1 Lakh upon post-graduation, Rs 5 lakh on completing PhD.
· Establish residential schools for SCs and STs in every mandal, reintroduce fee reimbursement. Provide hostel facilities to all SC and ST UG and PG students. Financial assistance to every SC and ST student who secures admission in universities abroad.
