TRS is delusional, staying far from reality: Renuka

Khammam: Renuka Chowdhury, the only woman candidate in the Parliament poll fray from the Congress in Telangana, has set her goals high. In a chit chat with The Hans India reporter Kishore Kumar Thallapally, she shares her plans to take the Khammam district onto the path of development, besides her strategies to emerge victorious in the upcoming elections.

1Q: How successful is the campaign so far and how is the people's response to it?

A: People are responding very positively. We are planning to cover all the major areas in the constituency. Everyone in the party is actively taking part in the campaign and I'm very lucky to have such a hard working members on my side.

2Q: Several of Congress MLAs from the district have defected to TRS. Do you think the defections strengthened TRS and weakened the Congress?

A: It isn't true that we have lost any party cadre in the recent migrations. Although TRS was successful in persuading MLAs to leave their parties, the party cadre responsible for the victory of MLAs are still loyal to the party. Even recently our vehicles have been raided. That just shows that TRS leaders and their high command are at fear of failure in the district and are making futile attempts to stop us. Despite all this, we are gaining a lot of support from people and are just a step away from victory.

3Q: Due to the large wave of migration into TRS, the rumors of dissent between leaders are being widely heard especially that of Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy who was denied MP ticket. Is congress party planning to cash in on internal bickering in TRS?

A: I am still surprised over TRS denying MP ticket to Ponguleti. Ponguleti has a good following among people and is a strong leader. Denying him MP ticket and choosing Nama for the competition seems foolish. But we do not have any plans on benefiting from their internal struggles. We are more focused on strengthening our party cadre. Congress party doesn't believe in cashing on others weaknesses, our confidence and hard work is what will help us achieve success.

4Q: How do you believe the election results would turn out?

A: I'm going to win with a huge majority. People are disgusted by the undemocratic politics of TRS in the last two months. They are watching and feel betrayed over their chosen leaders joining other parties.

5Q: TRS says that they will win 16 seats. How do you think the Congress would perform?

A: I think TRS is being delusional and should understand the reality. We all know how they performed in the recent graduate and teachers MLC elections. Their failure took its first step in MLC election and will completely immerse them in the Parliamentary elections. We have a good hard working party cadre and support of the masses which will drive us towards success.

6Q: Keeping the party manifesto aside, what promises do you make to the people of Khammam?

A: I do not think I need to make any additional promises. Khammam people saw me work for them as their representative while working as Central Minister from their district. They are very well aware of all the development that I did for the district which will help me elected in these elections. I will develop Khammam into an ideal city which will have a national recognition. I will also bring a university to Khammam district thereby providing educational opportunities to people. I'm a fighter who is capable of bringing necessary funds to the district no matter which party is ruling at the Centre.

7Q: Both Nama and you are former MPs who claim to have developed the district during their tenure. Whom should the people trust?

A: Unlike Nama, my claims are substantiated by proofs. During my tenure as MP in the district, I brought foot over bridges in all the railway stations under my jurisdiction. I referred several poor people to Kendriya Vidyalayas and also made several developmental projects that stood as attraction to many tourists. I also brought army recruitment rallies to Khammam and provided young people with employment opportunities. People are very well aware of all the developmental projects that I did during my service and are hoping to see me as a Central Minister again.

8Q: Do you think Nama a worthy opponent against you?

A: Nama is competing from a party that he joined two weeks back. By chanting vote for cycle symbol in a TRS campaign meeting, he proved that he is not accustomed to the new party yet. Lack of coordination between him and the leaders is apparent. He is the type of candidate who will disappear until next elections if he loses. He did it before and will do it again. Therefore, I think he is a not a worthy candidate against me in this election.

9Q: What would you like to covey to the people of Khammam through the Hans India?

A: As the daughter of Khammam district, I would like to appeal to all the Khammam voters to vote for Congress. I have done a lot of development during my term previously and I will keep doing it if given a chance again. If elected, I will bring a national level recognition to Khammam as a tourist attraction. I would like to remind that voting for TRS is like voting for BJP. If Congress comes to power at Centre, we will give monthly support income of Rs 6,000 to every poor family in the country.