KCR calls Congress first villain of Telangana

Hyderabad: Coming down heavily on the Congress party, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday termed it as the first villain of Telangana, and vowed that he would protect the honour of the State and Assembly at any cost.

Taking part in a debate in the Assembly on the Thanks Giving motion for the speech of Governor ESL Narasimhan to both Houses of the Legislature, he made it clear that his objective was to put Telangana ahead of all the other States in the country.

He said the government would not tolerate unruly behavior of opposition parties and added that dharnas and rallies should be organised peacefully. He said dharnas could be held at Saroornagar. The Chief Minister further added that Congress was quite intolerant as it did not get power in the State. Ever since TRS came to power, the Congress has been hatching conspiracies to overthrow the government and added that he got reports to corroborate.

Criticising the Congress, KCR said it was the grand old party which has weakened the Telangana that should have flourished decades ago. “Former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru has merged Telangana with Andhra Pradesh and he is the first villain,” he said.

He said the Congress leaders have agreed to all the machinations against Telangana. They have accepted construction of Nagarjuna Sagar instead of Nandikonda, being envisaged by the Nizam. They have also accepted for Sriram Sagar project in the place of Pochampadu. The then Congress leaders deliberately allowed taking away 172 tmc water of Godavari.

When Telangana movement was at peak, the Congress leaders said there was no need to give statehood. He said that he did not compromise on Telangana without Hyderabad. If that condition had been accepted, Telangana would have formed four years earlier than 2014.

He said the main opposition was blind to the achievements of the TRS government and were unable to stomach the victories of TRS. Speaking on the Telangana Liberation Day, he said there was no common opinion on the issue. He said some say it was a day of liberation, some say that it was day of merger and some say it was traitors day.

Though TRS has supported the idea of celebrating the Liberation Day officially, now it has developed second thoughts as it would divide the State. He advised BJP not to see the Liberation Day in communal angle.

Referring to the demand of categorisation of SCs, the Chief Minister said he would ensure that it would be achieved by next term. The Centre has categorically rejected the categorisation. He said that Manda Krishna Madiga now have no role to play.

“Leave the matter of categorisation to me. The Madiga students did not come under the influence of some people. I promise that I will achieve it cent per cent,” KCR said. On BC reservations, the Chief Minister said if there was a possibility to raise the reservations, he was ready to do so. Referring to SC and ST sub-plans, the Chief Minister said the government has made a new act for their proper implementation.

Stating the facts about the debt burden of the State government, he said the debt burden of the State was Rs 1.42 lakh crore and not as referred by some as Rs 2 lakh crore. He said the government has been paying heavy amounts for the debt service.

He said the government receives Rs 10,500 crore revenue every month and most of it goes to the payment of salaries, debt service and establishment charges. He said the crop loan waiver was delayed as the Reserve Bank of India did not allow it.

Chandrasekhar Rao said the Congress promise of waiving Rs 2 lakh loan of the farmers was not possible as the revenues of the State did not allow for it. It takes eight years for that party to fulfill the promise.