TRS has no right to seek votes in municipal polls: Uttam

Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President & Nalgonda MP Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the TRS party has no right to seek votes from the people in municipal elections as it had continuously neglected the urban local bodies during the last six years.

Addressing Congress party workers and leaders in a live interaction on social media platform Facebook on Saturday, he told them to expose the failures of the TRS Government in developing municipalities and municipal corporations in Telangana State. "Development in all Urban Local Bodies in Telangana got stagnated after TRS came to power in 2014. People did not get proper sanitation, water supply, housing, cleanliness, solid waste management, sewerage, roads, parks, footpaths or any other facilities," he said.

Uttam Kumar Reddy pointed out that the Telangana State Finance Commission had appointed Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) to undertake the study on Municipal Finances and Service Delivery in the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) of Telangana. He said that the ASCI, in its report submitted its report to the Commission on June 25, 2019, stated that 73 ULBs, including GHMC, needs additional finances of Rs. 40,720 crore over five years to improve the delivery of services. He said instead of implementing the recommendations by increasing the funds, TRS Government further reduced the funds for municipal administration and urban development. The ASCI report had revealed that the financial situation of ULBs was weak and they were barely able to cover the cost of administration and Operations and Management (O&M) expenditure.

The TPCC Chief said Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao must clarify as to why he reduced the funding for municipal administration department although the local bodies required more funds to provide better facilities to common people. He said as against Rs. 2,570 crore allocated for MA&UD in 2018-19, the allocations were reduced to just Rs. 1,262 crore in 2019-20. "Citing financial crunch, no financial assistance was given to Municipal Corporations of Khammam, Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Ramagundem. No funds were allocated for new municipalities for developmental works. CM KCR should first apologise with the people for reducing development funds before seeking people's votes," he said.

Similarly, Uttam Kumar Reddy said allocations were also decreased for Centrally Sponsored Schemes. Quoting budget figures, he said allocations for National Urban Livelihood Mission was reduced from Rs. 20.90 Crore in 2018-19 to Rs. 2.37 Crore in 2019-20. Similarly, funds were reduced for Swachh Bharat (from Rs. 102.86 Cr to Rs. 11.69 Cr); Smart Cities (Rs. 103.62 Cr to Rs. 11.78 Cr); AMRUT (Rs. 363.58 Cr to Rs. 41.33 Cr) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) - from Rs. 766.50 Cr to Rs. 108.17 Crore.

He said no funds were allocated for construction of Double Bed Room Houses for the Urban Poor. He said it was strange that TRS leaders were making tall promises while ignoring the fact their government has not allocated any funds for the development of municipal areas.

Further, Uttam Kumar Reddy blamed CM KCR for the rising number of suicide by farmers in Telangana State. He said as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report for 2018, which was released about two days ago, suicide by farmers in Telangana has increased compared to 2017. As against 846 incidents of farmers' suicide in 2017, the number rose to 900 in 2018. On an average, three farmers are committing suicide every day or there is one suicide in every eight hours in Telangana, he said adding that the increase in numbers clearly show that KCR Government has completely neglected the farm sector.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said, as per NCRB report, Telangana state has registered the second-highest number of cases of stalking in the country, only behind Maharashtra. Telangana state also stands seventh in the number of cases registered for outraging the modesty of women in 2018, according to NCRB.

He appealed to the voters to teach TRS a fitting lesson in the municipal elections. He said CM KCR and other TRS leaders have been misleading the people through fake promises and wrong claims. He asked the voters to cross-check the claims being made by CM KCR and other leaders regarding development. He said not a single major promise made by TRS in 2014 and 2018 elections have been fulfilled. He said the defeat in municipal elections would give KCR the necessary shock which might make him fulfil the electoral promises.

The TPCC chief said that the scrutiny of nominations in municipal elections was completed today and the candidates whose nominations have been rejected could file an appeal on 12th and 13th January. He said that the Congress party has distributed B-Forms to all its candidates. He said in case of any discrepancies in the B-Forms, the candidates may contact TPCC General Secretaries G. Niranjan and J. Srinivas in Gandhi Bhavan. He appealed to the rebel candidates to withdraw from the contest.

Speaking about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Uttam Kumar Reddy demanded that KCR clarify his stand on CAA, NRC and NPR before January 22. He said KCR should convene a special Assembly session to pass a resolution rejection CAA and NRC on the lines of Kerala Government. Else, he appealed the people to teach TRS a fitting lesson for its dubious stand on the issue.