Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Tuesday refuted the allegation made by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao that the BJP government at the Centre was undermining the federal spirit of the Constitution.
“What does KCR know about the federal spirit? All that he knows is cloudburst and Jeffersons (a whiskey brand in the US). In fact, whatever development Telangana has witnessed in the last eight years, it was only due to the funds released by the Centre,” Sanjay said, while addressing a public meeting at Palakurthy in Jangaon district.
The BJP president said KCR had made the Telangana people paupers. He has not been paying salaries to the employees properly and imposed a debt burden of Rs 1.20 lakh on every person’s head.
“Can he explain how many new ration cards and new pensions he had given to the people in the last eight years?” he asked.
Sanjay said the chief minister was trying to cover up his failures and hoodwinking the people by accusing the Centre of not doing anything to Telangana.
“But the people know everything and they don’t believe him. They are aware that KCR had not fulfilled many of his promises for various sections of people, including the unemployed youth, RTC workers and farmers, leading to a spate of suicides by these sections,” he pointed out.
Stating that Modi had never opposed implementation of welfare schemes for the poorest of the poor, the BJP president alleged the TRS government had extended Rythu Bandhu to rich farmers, but not to the really poor farmers.
“If KCR has been from a rich family right from the beginning, why did he sell his land in Chintamadaka village to the SC Corporation?” he asked.
He alleged that KCR was always interested in coming to power by bribing voters.
“In Dubbak, he paid Rs 10,000 per vote; in Huzurabad, his party paid Rs 20,000 per vote. Yet, the people had voted against the TRS and taught a lesson to him. Now, in Munugode, he is offering Rs 30,000 per vote,” Sanjay said.
The BJP president came down heavily on the police for forcibly shutting down shops at Palakurthy in the wake of his padayatra.
“Let police commissioner Tarun Joshi give up his job and join the TRS for a post. If he has sincerity, he should talk about the police welfare,” he criticised.
He alleged that the police had resorted to lathi-charge on innocents and dragged even women holding their hair, he said and warned the TRS leaders of dire consequences if such incidents were repeated.
Sanjay demanded an explanation from the chief minister why his government was not celebrating September 17 as the Telangana liberation day.
He said the TRS government was trying to erase the history of Telangana and the sacrifices made by the Telangana martyrs.
