Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday launched the party’s campaign for next month’s Lok Sabha elections in the state with an appeal to people to reject both the Congress and the BJP.
Addressing Praja Ashirwad sabha in Chevella constituency near Hyderabad, he said both the Congress and BJP had betrayed the people of Telangana and claimed that only BRS can safeguard people’s interests as the party was born for Telangana.
The BRS chief urged people to make a conscious decision while voting.
He said during Assembly elections, the people fell prey to the false promises of the Congress and as a result, they are facing problems in getting water for drinking and irrigation.
KCR, as Rao is popularly known, said tankers have come back while crops over 20 lakh acres have withered due to lack of water supply and the government’s failure to provide uninterrupted power.
He cautioned people that if they vote for Congress or BJP, these parties will not do anything for people as they tend to think that people voted for them despite making false promises and betraying them.
The former chief minister said if people elect BRS candidates in all constituencies, they can have a strong opposition to question the government and get their problems solved.
He asked why people should vote for Congress and BJP and appealed to them to elect BRS candidates as they alone can raise voice in the Parliament on behalf of the people.
The BRS chief said people should not remain silent but fight. He told them that if they remain silent their problems will not be solved.
He said the Congress came to power by offering allurements to people.
Hitting out at the Congress over its four-month rule, he said the Congress government was not sincere in people’s welfare.
KCR also lashed out at the BJP saying it did not fulfil a single commitment made to Telangana and neglected the state.
KCR said the Congress government in Telangana not only failed to deliver on the promises made in Assembly elections but also stopped implementation of the schemes launched by the previous BRS government.
“The A. Revanth Reddy government has failed in providing investment support to farmers under Rythu Bandhu or protecting their crops by providing water and uninterrupted power,” he said.
Asserting that Telangana state was achieved after many struggles and indefinite fast, he said the BRS government launched many schemes to help distressed farmers.
He mentioned that the government implemented Rythu Bandhu under which farmers were provided financial support of Rs 10,000 per acre every year, supplied quality power for 24 hours to farmers, implemented insurance scheme for farmers and procured the entire produce of the farmers.
KCR said the BRS government without any discrimination on the basis of caste and religion extended financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh each for the marriage of poor girls under Kalyana Lakshmi.
He said Congress promised gold in addition to financial assistance but has not implemented the promise.
The BRS chief also asked what happened to the Congress promises to procure all agriculture produce, pay bonus of Rs 500 per quintal of agricultural produce. He claimed that the previous government launched Dalit Bandhu to financially empower Dalits by giving Rs 10 lakh to every family.
He said Rs 1.30 lakh Dalits were sanctioned Dalit Bandhu funds. He alleged that the Congress government stopped release of funds under the scheme.
He said the Congress party promised that it would give Rs 12 lakh to Dalits but it was not even giving Rs 10 lakh.
KCR announced that if the government failed to release the funds immediately under Dalit Bandhu, he would stage a protest at Ambedkar statue along with the beneficiaries identified under the scheme.
“As long as I am alive, I will continue to fight for people,” he said.
The BRS chief urged people of Chevella to reject Ranjith Reddy, who quit BRS to join Congress party. Ranjith Reddy, who was elected on BRS ticket from Chevella in 2019, recently joined the Congress, which has named him as its candidate.
BJP candidate Vishweshwar Reddy was also with BRS before joining Congress in 2018.
He later quit Congress to join the BJP.