TRS indulges in 'copycat' politics, not Congress: Uttam

Hyderabad/Huzurnagar: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President & Nalgonda MP Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy blamed the erratic and illogical poll schedule for lack of Congress candidates in a few seats in municipal elections.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said there was minimal or no time gap between the date of notification and nomination and therefore, the opposition parties could not finalise appropriate candidates. Since TRS knew the ward reservations in advance, it took unfair advantage. For the same reason, he said that the Congress party went to High Court challenging the election schedule and seeking time gap between the release of notification and nomination process. However, he said the issue could not be addressed.

Strongly condemning TRS Working President & Minister K. Tarakarama Rao for his statement saying that Congress could not field candidates in nearly 500 seats for municipal elections, Uttam Kumar Reddy said it was due to the manipulation of polling process done by TRS Govt and not due to the weakness of Congress party.

"TRS leaders, with the help of local police, either lured or intimidated Congress leaders to prevent them from filing nomination papers. Those who filed their nominations were beaten up in the presence of local police and forced to withdraw their candidatures. Many Congress leaders who refused TRS offers were implicated in false cases. A few newspapers also reported the incidents with pictures. The formal complaint was also lodged with the State Election Commission. But, as usual, the poll authorities remained inert apparently to favour ruling TRS. It is highly shameful that despite indulging in such poll irregularities to ensure victory through backdoor methods, KTR is making false claims of Congress absence in over 500 seats," alleged Uttam Kumar Reddy.

Addressing different meetings as part of the campaign for municipal elections in Huzurnagar on Friday, the TPCC President alleged that the TRS party has been winning elections only on the basis of money and muscle power and by misusing official machinery. He said TRS would not win a single seat if elections were held in a free, fair and transparent manner. He said TRS was 'managing' elections and not really 'contesting' them. Stating that TRS has made more than 500 major election promises since 2014, he challenged KTR to list out at least 10 major promises which have been fulfilled.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the Congress party, since its inception, believes in the ty of thoughts and ideas. It always focussed on people's welfare and introduced schemes that fulfilled the needs of the common people. He ridiculed TRS leaders for accusing Congress party of copying TRS schemes in the manifesto. He reminded that Rs. 5 meal scheme was introduced by the ious Congress Government on March 1, 2014, in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. He said Congress party was in power at the Centre, State and also in GHMC. "It is ridiculous on the part of TRS leaders to claim that their government started Rs. 5 meal scheme," he said while advising the ruling party leaders to study the Congress manifesto which says that Rs. 5 meal scheme would be expanded to provide Rs. 5 meal twice a day (lunch & dinner) in all the Urban Local Bodies.

He also advised the TRS leaders to compare their party's manifesto for 2018 elections with that of Congress party and also check the dates of their release. "When we promised to double pension amount to Rs. 2,000, Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao made the same announcement two days later by increasing the amount to Rs. 2016. Similarly, Unemployment Allowance of Rs. 3,000 per month was copied with an addition of Rs. 16. Everyone knows Congress stand for originality and purity while TRS is a cocktail of greedy, disgruntled and unsatisfied leaders of many parties. More than half of KCR cabinet and three-fourth of TRS MLAs are migrants from other parties," he said.

"TRS leaders are habitual of claiming false ownership of things owned by others. TRS Govt did not complete a single irrigation project nor did the power projects started by KCR Govt generate a single unit of power. All the projects were started and funded during the Congress regime and TRS ministers only inaugurated them. Almost all water tanks in urban and local areas were constructed by previous Congress Government. But TRS Govt painted them with the pink colour to show them as achievements of Mission Bhagiratha. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Nehru Outer Ring Road, PVNR Expressway, Hyderabad Metro Rail, highways and internal roads in other districts and remaining infrastructure was built by the previous Congress Govt. Present TRS Govt could not even construct buildings for all 33 District Collectorates in the last six years," he said.

The TPCC President said people should not trust the fake promises of TRS and vote for Congress candidates to give the ruling party a major shock so as to remind them about the unfulfilled promises.