Telangana Assembly elections: Questioning Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's decision to not attend any meeting of the opposition alliance INDIA, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Telangana alleged that Bharat Rashtra Samithi (who) calls themselves a secular party has secretly joined hands with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Addressing a public meeting at Chevella near Hyderabad, Kharge said KCR never spoke about the unity of secular parties to defeat the BJP. "BJP and BRS have now become friends. When there are some inside deal, they can't speak against each other. I have heard that KCR has stopped talking against the BJP," Kharge said.
KCR didn't attend a single meeting
"26 parties have united to remove the Modi government from power, but KCR didn't attend a single meeting. He did not even ask whether all secular parties are coming together to defeat Modi. BRS calls themselves a secular party but secretly have joined hands with the BJP. But we are bringing all opposition together,” the Congress chief said.
"BRS and BJP have now become friends. They cannot speak about it. Now, they will stop speaking here (against each other)," said the Congress chief.
Amit Shah will for Congress' report card
Taking a dig at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Kharge said PM Narendra Modi and Shah question the Congress party's contributions to the country. Kharge then went on to highlight the Congress party's contributions, including the unification of princely states and the making of the Constitution after Independence, irrigation projects initiated during the Nehru era, nationalisation of banks and the promotion of computers during Rajiv Gandhi's tenure as Prime Minister.
"Shah is coming tomorrow and he will ask what the Congress did in the last 53 years, give us the report card. Earlier, he used to say 70 years but now he has reduced it to 53 years probably after deducting the time of the BJP governments. Tell Shah what the Congress did after Independence. Who united Hyderabad with the country? Congress did. Who gave the Constitution? Who gave IIT, IIM, AIIMS, ISRO, DRDO, SAIL, HAL, BEL, ONGC? Congress gave all these and a strong, united country. One needle was not manufactured in the country. We set up big factories in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Kanpur. What big factory did the BJP set up but today they think they did everything?" Kharge added.
"You people have gathered here to overthrow the KCR government...Some people think Telangana is formed because of them but the state was formed because of the people here and Congress leaders," he said.
Kharge released a poster of 'SC/ST Declaration'
At the public meeting, Kharge also released a poster of the Congress party's ' Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Declaration'. These 12 ‘declarations’ are promises of the party for the coming Assembly elections in Telangana. He said that the ‘declarations’ are just nomenclature, but the Congress is committed to implement all of them with all its might and the government's power to bring the SC/STs, BCs and Micro OBCs on par with other communities.
Here are 12 declarations of Congress
- Increase the reservations for SCs to 18%, proportionate to SC population. Ensure implementation of A, B, C, D categorization of reservation for SCs.
- Implement Ambedkar Abhaya Hastham, a scheme to provide financial assistance of Rs 12 lakhs per family to SCs and STs within five years starting from 2023-24, by providing requisite budget allocation in every year’s Budget. The financial assistance is intended to enhance the incomes of people belonging to SCs and STs.
- Provide 18% reservation for SCs and 12% reservation for STs in Government procurement and public work contracts. Provide reservations for SC, STs in private educational institutions and jobs in private companies availing incentives from the government.
- Provide a house site and Rs 6 lakhs for construction of houses, under Indiramma Pucca houses scheme to every houseless SC and ST family. Saturation approach will be followed to cover all the eligible families within five years.
- All the lands assigned to SCs and STs, but usurped by BRS govt will be restored to the original assignees, with all the rights. And when lands are acquired for public purpose under Land Acquisition Act 2013, the assigned lands will be treated on par with patta lands for payment of compensation.
- Forest Rights Act, which was passed by the INC Government under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, will be strictly implemented to provide pattas for podu lands to all the eligible beneficiaries.
- Introduce Sammakka Sarakka Girijana Graminabhivrudhi Pathakam (SGGP) to provide an annual grant of Rs. 25 Lakh to each Tanda and Gudem Gram Panchayats.
- Establish 3 new SC Corporations and provide grants of Rs. 750 crores to each corporation every year. The three corporations are (1) Madiga Corporation, (2) Mala Corporation, (3) Other SC sub-castes corporation which are the most downtrodden SC sub-castes.
- Establish 3 new Tribal Corporations and provide grants of Rs 500 crores to each corporation every year. The three Corporations are (1) Tukaram Adivasi Corporation for the welfare of Koya, Gond, Pradhan and Andh communities of Telangana. (2) Sant Sevalal Lambada Corporation for the welfare of Lambadas (3) Yerukula Corporation for the welfare of Yerukulas and other plain area tribes.
- Establish 5 new plain area ITDAs in Nalgonda, Mahabubabad, Khammam, Nizamabad and Mahabubnagar for overall development of Tribal communities. Establish super speciality hospitals at all ITDA headquarters
- Implement Vidya Jyothulu Pathakam, to provide financial assistance for SC, ST students of Rs. 10,000 upon passing 10th class, Rs 15,000 upon passing intermediate, Rs. 25,000 upon graduation, and Rs. 1 Lakh upon post graduation. Provide Rs. 5 Lakh for the SC and ST youth completing MPhil and PhD.
- Establish residential schools for SCs and STs in every Mandal and reintroduce the fees reimbursement scheme. Provide hostel facilities to all SC and ST students pursuing graduation and post-graduation. Provide financial assistance to every SC and ST student who secures admission in universities abroad.
Assembly elections in Telangana will be held in the coming months. The tenures of the Telangana Assembly will come to an end on January 16, 2024. In 2018, K Chandrashekar Rao secured a landslide victory by winning 87 of the 119 seats.
Also Read: Telangana: KCR says if Congress comes to power, era of middleman will begin
