Rahul wants to see woman CM in T

• Congress govt will waive farmers’ loans up to Rs 2 lakh
• He holds out promise of lakhs of jobs in govt, pvt sectors
• Assures Telangana will be turned into manufacturing hub

Hyderabad/Warangal: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that the Congress party would see that a woman becomes the Chief Minister of Telangana. “Women can do big things and have proved their mettle in many fields.I wish to see a woman among you to become the Chief Minister,” he said.

He was addressing election rallies in Warangal, the hotbed of Telangana movement, and Hyderabad. He promised waiver of farmers’ loans up to Rs 2 lakh. Rahul said that only Congress could fulfil such a promise. He recalled that despite the opposition parties raising apprehensions on the Congress commitment in fulfilling the promise made before an election, the party waived Rs 76,000 crore loans taken by the farmers from banks immediately after it assumed power at the Centre in 2004. He made a slew of promises to woo the voters in the Warangal district which included promoting Warangal city as a second IT hub after Hyderabad, upgrading Warangal medical collage as AIIMS centre, completion of Kantanapalli irrigation project at a cost of Rs 2,035 crore to cover 7.5 lakh acre ayacut, setting up of a Rs 400 crore textile park and a 800 MW power station at Bhupalpalli.

In both the meetings, Rahul gave a detailed account of how KCR went back on his promise of merging TRS with Congress. Rahul said he could understand KCR’s betrayal of Congress. KCR also promised to make Dalit as the Chief Minister but went back on that promise also, he pointed out. He described him as a leader who did not keep his word and as one raking up passions and trying to disturb communal harmony. He warned the people against putting their future in the hands of “leaders without credibility.”

Rahul said the Congress party wants to see that the ‘Brand Hyderabad’ image gets a further boost globally, and the city emerges as number one in the country. He said if voted to power, the Congress party would strive to see that Hyderabad, which has now come to be known as a hub for software, becomes a major centre for hardware as well. Explaining how the UPA government created a dedicated manufacturing corridor between Delhi-Kolkatta-Mumbai and Chennai, he said it would help the 29th state grow industrially. He promised to develop Telangana as the manufacturing hub and assured a 4,000 MW power plant in the region. He said that the youth of Telangana will get employment and prosper only when they are part of making Telangana a manufacturing hub and replace “Made in China” with “Made in India.” For this, he said the UPA-III will give 10 year tax holiday for setting up industrial units in backward districts. He said he wants to wear a watch with “made in Telangana, made in Hyderabad” tag.

In the last ten years of UPA regime, Rahul said the Centre had given clearance for Metro rail project, upgraded NIMs and Gandhi hospital. He said ITIR would provide jobs for 70 lakh people. To woo the youth, the AICC leader also promised one lakh jobs in government and another two lakh jobs in private sector in the next five years in Telangana