Soon Khammam will be made biz and tourism hub

Khammam: In view of the upcoming Parliament elections, Khammam MLA Puvvada Ajay Kumar talks about his plans of transforming Khammam city into an industrial and tourism spot and how he is working towards making his party emerge victorious in the upcoming elections, with The Hans India reporter Kishore Kumar Thallapally.

1Q: Do you think internal fighting between the leaders in the party would be resolved in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections?

A: It is true that there were conflicts between our leaders which deepened after the Assembly elections. But they resolved eventually and everyone in our party is working together for the success of TRS in the upcoming elections. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao took the responsibility of overseeing elections in Khammam district into his own hands and under his leadership, every leader in our district is working as a team. Recently, a parliamentary meeting was organised under the guidance of high command and all the leaders attended and vowed to drive the party towards success in the upcoming polls.

2Q: How would you respond to the fact that you had failed to secure a berth in the State cabinet. Do you expect your name in the next round of cabinet expansion?

A: Cabinet expansion and the decision of naming the ministers are taken by our party president K Chandrashekar Rao. He has complete freedom in making the decision and we as party members respect his decision. We believe that KCR wanted to make TRS party stronger in Khammam district before he includes it in the ministry. As of now, the party power rose to six in the district. We believe that it would rise in the upcoming few days. We strongly hope to wave TRS flag high in the LS elections and after that, Khammam will be definitely represented in the next cabinet expansion. Like every MLA who gets elected, I hoped to get a ministry too. But I am a loyal servant to TRS party with or without a ministry.

3Q: It's being heard that you are proposing a candidate for the MP ticket, is that true? Will your candidate get the ticket? Who do you think would be able to win if given a chance?

A: We do not have the policy of proposing candidates in our party. Our leader KCR has complete freedom in choosing the candidate. We will support any candidate that our leader proposes and will work towards his success. After the Assembly elections, all the leaders in the Khammam district are determined to gift a majority of one lakh votes to KCR in the Parliament elections. People noticed the development that we did in the past five years. We believe they will elect us with a huge majority.

4Q: Although five Congress MLAs are ready to switch to TRS party, it's being heard that the Congress party cadre is still loyal to the party. In this scenario, how do you think the elections going to be?

A: Every MLA who won was able to win because they had immense love from the people. Before they decided to join TRS, every MLA met with their followers and the people in their constituency and took the decision after taking their opinions. In addition to this, in the recent gram panchayat elections, the TRS-supported candidates won majority of them. Congress party started losing its followers right after the Assembly elections and now a time has come when their workers can be counted on fingers. It wouldn't be so late before the remaining Congress cadre also joins TRS party.

5Q: Khammam people elected you as their MLA for the second term. What new services can they expect from you in this term?

A: It wasn't hard to win the first time because people want to give the new candidate a chance to prove himself. But, it's definitely hard to win for the second time. Because people will have high expectations and only vote for the candidate if he meets their expectations. I am really thankful to the people of Khammam constituency, who lay their trust in me and elected me as their leader. I promised the people of Khammam constituency to provide them with 24X7 supply of drinking water and electricity. The works of underground drainage system and renovation Gollapadu channel are underway and will be finished soon.

6Q: What actions are being taken for industrial development of Khammam district? What new industries/companies are coming to Khammam?

A: Although Khammam district had huge success in industrialisation, it was only limited to granite industry. Our leader KCR is working hard in bringing other industries to Khammam district. A mega food processing unit is already being built in Buggapadu village of Sathupalli mandal. We are trying to bring another food processing unit to Khammam city. The works of IT Hub constructions will be finished soon and several IT companies will establish their branches in Khammam district.

7Q: Are you trying bringing in any special funds to Khammam district from the State government?

A: Rs 100 crore is being allocated for the development of Khammam city every year. With these funds, we are hoping to drive Khammam city towards the path of progress. We are planning to transform Khammam city into a tourism destination. With the renovation of Lakaram tank bund, the face of khammam city has changed tremendously. Munneru stream is at the forefront of Khammam city. We are making necessary plans to have year-long storage of water in the stream. We are also planning to construct Munneru tank bund similar to the Lakaram tank bund. If that happens, Munneru tank bund and Lakaram tank bund will transform the Khammam city into a beautiful tourism attraction.

8Q: What are you doing in order to make yourself always available to the people?

A: I love being among the people. My father Puvvada Nageswara Rao received immense love from the people and I hope to be loved like that. I am always trying to interact with the people in my constituency every day. I have been a little busy recently with consecutive elections of gram panchayat, Parliament, MLC, ZPTC and MPTC. Once the elections are done, I will spend the upcoming days trying to speak to every person in the constituency and will try to understand and solve the problems they are facing. I am planning on arranging Praja Darbars all over the constituency with the hope of giving my people a chance to voice their concerns.