TRS is flush with funds to take on Modi govt: KCR

Hyderabad: The TRS is one of the richest political parties in the country, with assets worth Rs 1,000 crore. It also has a massive cadre; there are people who can contribute from Rs 100 to Rs 1 crore if he gives call. Hence there would be no dearth of funds to launch a national party to take on the Modi government, said TRS president K Chandrashekar Rao.

Elaborating on the need to launch a new national party, he said the country is witnessing communal strife, with the recent incidents in Delhi and Karnataka, while the emphasis should have been on development and people's welfare, irrespective of religion.

He liberally used the incident when the TDP founder and CM of undivided AP NTR suggested that the office of Governor had become redundant. Describing NTR as a great leader, he recalled how Raj Bhavan was misused to unseat him, that too when he was abroad for heart surgery; how people of AP forced the mighty Congress government at the Centre to reinstate him. He said that the country's federal structure is being attacked with the Governors in some States, like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, who refused to give their approval to proposals submitted by the governments. "Water wars and power sector woes are a reality across the country".

Emphasising on the need for a change at the Centre, he said even Telangana could have achieved GDP of Rs 14.50 lakh crore had the Centre performed like the State government did. He said it is a matter of pride that the fight for a change and efforts for improving the economic and social conditions in States begins from Telangana. He said China's economy today was US$ 16 trillion, as against India's $ 3 trillion economy.

"We have greater resources than China, yet we are lagging behind. The reason is no government wants to adopt a new and practical approach of development. They continue with narrow-minded policies and tendencies. Modi and BJP were no exception", he added. KCR said Telangana had achieved immense growth with implementation of several schemes, like bringing transparency in land record portal 'Dharani' and is emerging as a role model to others.

"I have been in public life for the last 50 years. We have been able to achieve this growth with single minded focus. Our State GDP was about Rs 5 lakh crore in 2014 which has now reached Rs 11.50 lakh crore. He stressed on the need to have an integrated national agriculture policy and modern economic politics for the country's overall development.