In a scathing attack, BRS leader and Telangana minister KT Rama Rao on Saturday called the Congress "the real white elephant" and said the people of the country had borne the brunt of the party's "misrule and misadventures for the longest time". Invoking Mahatma Gandhi, he said the Mallikarjun Kharge-led party should have been disbanded right after independence.
"I think the real white elephant of this country is the Congress Party because this party I think the people have borne for too long. The people have borne the brunt of Congress's misrule and misadventures for the longest time. So the real white elephant, no matter what anybody would like to believe, my personal belief is the Congress. And as Mahatma Gandhi had said, Congress should have been disbanded right after independence in 1948. Unfortunately, it's still there. Therefore, a lot of nuisance," he said.
On January 27, 1948, three days before his assassination, MK Gandhi wrote that Congress had "outlived its use” in its present form, should be disbanded and “flower into a Lok Sevak Sangh''. The article appeared in a journal on February 2, 1948, titled 'His Last Will and Testament'.
According to reports, Gandhi's another statement was also carried in the same journal the same day in which he had said Indian National Congress "cannot be allowed to die".
The Congress is the principal opposition party in Telangana. Recently, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were in the state to campaign for the November 30 elections. Attacking BRS, they called the party BJP's B team.
On Friday, BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao said the Congress will abolish the welfare schemes his government started, if voted to power.
"If the BRS government is voted in, then progress will continue. People will benefit. I request all of you to compare how the rule was in 50 years of Congress’ regime and that of 10 years of BRS," he said in the Mahabubabad meeting seeking votes for his party's candidates.
"Congress leader Uttam Kumar Reddy says Rythu Bandhu is a waste of public money. Another leader, the present PCC president, says three hours of power is enough for farmers. If the Congress wins (in the polls) they say Ram Ram to Rythu Bandhu and Jai Bhim to Dalit Bandhu. People should decide what kind of situation they would like to be in," KCR alleged.
On Friday, the BJP said All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) was the "A-team" for Congress and BRS.
Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said, "AIMIM is the A-team for Congress and BRS. Asaduddin Owaisi controls all of them. Asaduddin Owaisi writes and gives what KCR and Rahul Gandhi should say. BRS is with the Majlis (AIMIM) party. Till we have life, we will never go together with AIMIM. We will never join BRS, which is together with AIMIM".
In 2018, BRS (then TRS) won 88 out of the state's 119 seats with a vote share of 47.4 percent. The Congress polled 28.7 percent votes and won 19 seats.
The Telangana Assembly elections results will be declared on December 3.
