KCR deprived poor of CSS benefits: Nadda

​Hyderabad: Union Health Minister J P Nadda criticised TRS supremo and caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao for letting down the poor of the State by denying them the benefits of the centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) like Ayushman Bharat.

Addressing the party cadre and leaders after inaugurating the election office at Musheerabad here on Monday, the Union Minister, who is also party's election in charge of the State said that the names of the BJP-lead NDA schemes have been relabelled by KCR in the State. He claimed that the TRS chief feared that implementing the CSS might make Prime Minister Narendra Modi more popular among the people of the State. 

Nadda said the Centre or the BJP have no problem if KCR wanted to rebrand the CSS schemes with different labelling, to make it look like his government schemes. “The worrying part for us was, the funds sent to the State under schemes like health mission were not spent and diverted for something else,” he claimed.

Further, KCR has nothing to lose by not implementing the central scheme Ayushman Bharat, to provide annual health coverage of Rs 5 lakh for the poor households but, for the sake of political equations that implementing the scheme would make Modi popular amounts to denying the benefits of the scheme and accessibility to the health coverage to the poor in the State, he said.

“The Prime Minister has been working in the spirit of cooperative federalism, to ensure welfare and developments reach everyone in the country. On the contrary KCR let down people to avail benefits of the CSS for political reasons,” he said.

However, KCR might try but he cannot stop the growing popularity of Modi among people of Telangana. Also, the next general elections in 2019 will be fought on Modi's popularity. The governance of NDA and BJP at the Centre led by Modi made him much popular among the people than the tallest leaders of the State. It was for this reason, and to save himself that KCR had imposed early Assembly elections on the State, he added.

The Union Minister also took a dig at the Mahakutami, criticising the TDP with its roots in the anti-Congress ideology joining hands with the Congress and letting down the Telugu pride slogan of its founder and former Chief Minister N T Rama Rao. He termed the Mahakutami as an alliance of opportunists and politics of convenience and said the people of the State had enough of the TRS, the Congress and the TDP and it is time to send them all home for some rest.

Expressing confidence of the BJP's victory in the State, Nadda asked party cadre and leaders to go into people and explain them of various initiatives of the Modi's government at the Centre and seek their support. State party president Dr K Laxman, former MLA G Kishan Reddy and other senior leaders also addressed the gathering stressing the need to take on the TRS and the Congress-TDP-CPI Kutami head-on.