BJP laughs off TRS mind games

Hyderabad: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State unit challenged the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party to prove that the Central Ministers appreciated the schemes of the State government.

Addressing a joint press conference here on Saturday, BJP State Official Spokespersons Dr S Prakash Reddy, N V Subhash and Dr K Naresh said they were ready to prove that the TRS leaders and Ministers played mind games by claiming that the Union Ministers appreciated the State government scheme and patted self. 

The BJP leaders said that none of the Ministers, either in Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha made any statements appreciating the schemes launched by the Telangana government. Union Ministers never made any appreciating remarks before the media, neither in Hyderabad nor in Delhi, they added.

Instead, the Union Minister of State for Rural Development Rambhopal Yadav had literally nailed the State Rural Development Minister Jupally Krishna Rao and the officials of the department during a recently held review meeting here on the implementation of the Central schemes in Telangana. 

“The Minister wanted to personally visit the housing units constructed under the Prime Minister Grameen Awas Yojana (PMGAY). However, neither Jupally Krishna Rao nor the officials were in a position to answer any of the questions raised by the Union Minister. The State Ministry and department did not dare to take the Union Minister on a site visit and claimed that the PMGAY scheme had been tied up with the State scheme of the double bedroom housing scheme,” the BJP leaders said. 

Similarly, the Minister had put in black and white that when the State fails to utilise the funds granted by the Centre and submit utilisation certificates, it should remit back the funds released to it under the Central schemes. The Minister also took exception to the State government diverting funds released for rural development in the State. 

The State government had been playing mind games by claiming that the Centre had been appreciating its schemes to fool people, they said. Instead, the leaders asked the State government to reveal the facts so that the people would understand and take an informed decision in 2019 general elections, they added.

Dismissing the allegations levelled against the party by former Congress MP Ponnam Prabhakar, Dr Naresh said, neither the party nor any of its Union Minister had called the State number one in the country in the implementation of the schemes. Besides, the party had made it clear that it would go alone in the ensuing general elections in 2019. 

Instead of making baseless allegations, he asked Prabhakar to do some self-introspection and better lock the office of the Congress party than thinking of locking the BJP State office.