Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday sharply attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in poll-bound Telangana, alleging that they are working together with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
Addressing the public in Kollapur, Gandhi said, "Your CM helps the BJP in Lok Sabha. Your CM fully supported GST and Farm Laws. All the CMs of the Opposition have CBI, ED and IT cases against them. But your CM has no such case against him...On the other side, there is AIMIM. They help BJP wherever they can."
The Congress leader also accused AIMIM of fielding candidates helpful to the BJP and remarked that voting for AIMIM and BJP would be equivalent to "wasting your vote". "We will defeat BJP here first and then defeat them in 2024 and push them out of the government," he further said.
Rahul Gandhi attacks BJP, BRS on Kaleshwaram project
Rahul Gandhi also accused the BJP-BRS duo of stealing Rs 1 lakh crore from the people of the state through the Kaleshwaram project.
Gandhi said, "On one side, your CM, his family and on the other side, Telangana's people, mothers, sisters and unemployed youth. The government has two greatest signs which are very well known by the people of Telangana and you get to hear about it every day. The biggest deceit is that of the Kaleshwaram project. BJP-BRS looted Rs 1 Lakh Crore from the people of Telangana."
The Congress leader further said that every family in the state will have to pay around Rs 31,500 every year just to repay the debt, and compared the Kaleshwaram project to the several infrastructure projects undertaken by the Congress in the state.
He also called the current state government led by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) as 'dorala' government and said that the Congress returned land belonging to Dalits, tribals and other backward communities, which were "stolen" by the CM
"With the excuse of computerisation, Dharani Portal was stolen. 20 lakh farmers suffered losses in Telangana and who benefitted? One family, their MLAs and ministers," Gandhi said, further promising to fulfill the dreams of the people.
Telangana Congress unveils 'Kaleshwaram ATM'
Earlier in the day, the Telangana Congress unit installed a mock ATM machine called 'Kaleshwaram ATM,' to criticize Bharat Rashtra Samithi and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. The party has also coined the slogan "Kaleshwaram Corruption Rao" for its campaign against the chief minister and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party.
Under this campaign, Congress workers have alleged that the BRS government misappropriated a staggering sum of 1,00,000 crore rupees from the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project on Godavari river in Telangana.
The project had suffered heavy damages due to massive floods last year. According to reports, one of the barrages within the Kaleshwaram barrage at Meddigadda was damaged. Telangana Chief Minister had in June 2019 inaugurated the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation project in Bhupalpally district, billed as the world's largest multi-stage lift irrigation scheme. The Project has been mired in controversies since its inception.
Telangana Assembly elections
Telangana Legislative Assembly, 119 members, will conduct elections on November 30 and the counting of votes will take place on December 3. Telangana is set to witness an intriguing triangular contest between the BRS, Congress, and BJP.
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 inputs from ANI)
ALSO READ | 'It's an attack on me': Telangana CM KCR after BRS MP Kotha Prabhakar Reddy stabbed during poll campaign
