KCR blasts Congress for tying up with TDP

Congress mortgaging self-respect of Telangana to Amaravati

Nizamabad: In a vitriolic attack on the Congress, TRS president and caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Wednesday charged the main opposition party in Telangana with forging alliance with Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who went down in the history as betrayer of Telangana.

"This is nothing but mortgaging the self-respect of people of Telangana to Amaravati," he said.

Addressing the second of a largely-attended Praja Ashirvada Sabha at Giriraj College Grounds here to shore up the prospects of the TRS in the ensuing elections, he launched a broadside against the Congress for sailing with the Telugu Desam which the TRS chief branded as one which had done incalculable harm to Telangana.

“The Congress leaders have already gone down on their knees before their high command at Delhi.

Worse still, they are now in poll pact with TDP which is a clear indication that the Congress has colluded with Andhra leaders to inveigle the Telangana people.

In a scathing attack on Naidu, KCR said that the TDP chief had created many hurdles in the process of completion of power projects and the pending irrigation projects in Krishna and Godavari river basin by lodging 36 complaints with the Centre and also in the courts.

"Chandrababu Naidu is the villain of Telangana. He offered Rs 500 crore to Congress to meet its poll expenditure and also provided three helicopters for campaign to gain control over Telangana," he said.

The TRS supremo also held Chandrababu Naidu responsible for the merger of seven mandals of Telangana with Andhra at the time of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

He castigated the AP CM that the latter had plotted to create political instability in Telangana by luring Telangana leaders with kickbacks.

"The TDP leader was caught red-handed in the cash- for- vote scam," he said.

Expressing contempt at the Congress, he said if so wanted, the TRS would have given a few seats to the grand old party to contest unopposed which is better than falling at the feet of Naidu.

He asked people to decide whether they wanted to be ruled by the Telangana Congress leaders who are "gulams" of Amaravati and Delhi.

The caretaker Chief Minister made it clear that he dissolved the assembly eight months in advance to seek fresh mandate and run a stable government for the next five years.

Congress had created many hurdles to his government in the development of the state. He accepted the Congress challenge for the early elections.

“For me and my party leaders, positions are not important when it comes to protecting Telangana's interests," he said, adding that it was a shame that the Congress had moved Supreme Court and Election Commission challenging the dissolution of the Assembly, fearing the prospect of biting the dust in the elections.

He took serious exception to TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy’s derogatory comment (battebaaj) but said he is refraining from using the same kind of language against him since he was in a responsible position.

The TRS president also lashed out at the BJP, demanding to know how it could announce payment of monthly house rentals up to Rs 5,000 to each of those who did not own houses, if the party came to power.

KCR demanded that the saffron party to first fulfill the promise of depositing Rs 15 lakh in account of each and every citizen of the country, before making other promises.

Listing out the welfare and development schemes launched by his government, KCR hinted at the social security pension being hiked substantially.

The Congress was forced to make the promise of paying Rs 2,000 as pension to each beneficiary after his government increased it Rs 1,000 in 2014 . It was just Rs 200 when the Congress was in power.

The hike in the salaries of government employees and contract workers is also under active consideration, the TRS chief said and claimed that his government was successful in putting Telangana on the road to development and made it the best state in the country with the highest growth rate.