Telangana Assembly Elections: Seeking votes for his party's candidate, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday said that his party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) should be voted to power in the upcoming elections for development to continue in the state. The Chief Minister said this while addressing an election rally in Kodada town in Suryapet district of Telangana.
KCR on Congress
BRS leader KCR criticised Congress, accusing it of not safeguarding Telangana's interests during the construction of certain irrigation projects in the past, while the state was part of undivided Andhra Pradesh. He expressed his party's commitment to protect the state like the armour of Karna.
The Telangana Chief Minister said the state has been progressing and become number one in several parameters such as per capita income and power. He said that if Congress is voted to power in Telangana, it will stop giving free power to farmers.
"BRS protects Telangana like the legendary Karna's Kavach (from the Mahabharat). BRS was born for Telangana state, its development and to protect Telangana people and their rights. BRS should be voted to power in Telangana for development to continue. If Congress is voted to power in Telangana, it will stop giving free power to farmers," he said.
KCR took a jab at Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, stating that Shivakumar is discussing the Siddaramaiah-led government's provision of five hours of free power to farmers whereas the BRS government provides 24 hours of free power to farmers. "Congress leaders never thought of irrigation projects that would benefit Telangana people," KCR hit out, referring to the Nagarjuna Sagar irrigation project.
Narrating the promises in the BRS manifesto, Rao said amounts for social pensions and Rythu Bandhu will be increased in a phased manner. He said Telangana which used to witness drought and migrations, has been witnessing development owing to peace and tranquility. "Telangana is number one in per capita income and per capita power consumption. Earlier the per capita power consumption now doubled to 2200 units from the earlier 1100 units," he added.
Without naming the Congress, he alleged the Muslims and Dalits were treated as vote-banks earlier.
Telangana Assembly Elections
Telangana Legislative Assembly, comprising 119 members, will conduct elections on November 30 and the counting of votes will take place on December 3. The primary competition is expected among the BRS, the BJP and the Congress.
In the Telangana Assembly Election Results of 2018, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) secured a resounding victory with 88 seats out of the total 119, comfortably surpassing the majority mark of 60. The Congress managed to secure 19 seats, while the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) won 7 seats. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) secured 2 seats, the BJP won 1 seat, and the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) secured 1 seat. Additionally, there was one independent candidate who won a seat.
(With PTI inputs)
Also Read: 'Congress real white elephant of this country': Telangana minister KTR
Also Read: Telangana Election: Congress announces 45 candidates, fields Mohammad Azharuddin from Jubilee Hills