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The people of Telangana will put an end to the “family rule” of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the November 30 assembly elections and bring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power, Union home minister Amit Shah said at a rally in the poll-bound state on Tuesday.
Starting the party’s election campaign in Telangana at the Praja Garjana (people’s roar) rally at Adilabad, Shah said the time had come to herald a double-engine government in the state, referring to the party’s election narrative of benefits accruing when the same party is in power at the Centre and in the state.
“For the last two terms, the BRS has been looting the people’s money for his family and neglecting the poor and the unemployed youth of the state. The only agenda of chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao is to make his son K T Rama Rao as the next chief minister,” Shah said.
The national party has three seats in the outgoing assembly of 119 members; the BRS has 104 MLAs and the Congress five. But in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation polls held in December 2020, the BJP gave the BRS a run for its money, winning 48 of 150 seats, as against 56 of BRS, and coming a close second.
Paying tributes to Adilabad’s tribal warrior Komaram Bheem, Shah said in the past nine-and-a-half years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced several programmes for the upliftment of Dalits and tribals. “For the first time, a poor tribal woman from Odisha has been made the President of India,” he said, referring to President Droupadi Murmu.
The home minister referred to the recent announcement of a central university for tribals in the name of Sammakka-Sarakka at Mulugu and alleged that the establishment of the institution was delayed due to non- allotment of land by the state government.
“On the other hand, what has KCR done for the tribals, except making tall promises? He has promised to sanction double bedroom houses for adivasis. Has he given them?” he asked.
Shah ridiculed a claim of Rao that he made Telangana the top state in the country in terms of development. “But the fact is that he has become number. 1 corrupt in the country and the state has become number 1 in terms of farmers’ suicides,” Shah said, adding that there was a not single allegation of corruption against the central government.
BRS working president and state industries minister K T Rama Rao reacted sharply to Shah’s remarks.
“If people listen to Shah’s words, they will see it as a joke. The entire India and Telangana know that in 9.5 years, the Modi government did not sanction even one educational institution in the state. The people are tired of the ‘jumlas’ that we get to hear from PM Modi and Shah. People are asking them about the inflation in the country,” he said.
“The steering wheel of our party lies in our hands and those of KCR. But unfortunately, BJP’s steering wheel has gone into the hands of Adani. Shah should take note of this,” he added.
During his speech, Shah also spoke about the Union government’s achievements.
“Our government has also enacted a legislation providing 33% reservations to women in Parliament and the state assembly,” he said, referring to the historic passage of the women’s quota bill in the recently concluded special session of Parliament.
He said that the central government was pushing to complete the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya despite several hurdles. “The Centre liberated Kashmir by revoking Article 370 and saved the country by ordering surgical strikes on Pakistan,” he asserted.
The Union government was also trying to mitigate the water woes of Telangana by changing the terms and conditions of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal, Shah added,
Accusing the BRS of acting as per the directions of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), the home minister asked the people of Telangana whether they needed a party whose steering was in the hands of Owaisis. “Only the BJP can provide security to the people from the modern Razakars,” he said.
The AIMIM has seven seats in the assembly. The Razakars were the private army of MIM workers during the Nizam regime in Hyderabad state during 1947-48. They were accused of indulging in atrocities on the Hindu community those days.
Shah also took a dig at the Congress. “These Congress leaders come to the people with new clothes before every election. They speak about the poor people, but do nothing for them. In the past, too, the Congress had not done anything for the state,” he said.
State BJP president G Kishan Reddy and local MP Soyam Bapu Rao also spoke at the rally.
HT reached out to Congress and AIMIM leaders for a comment but could not get one immediately.
Srinivasa Rao is Senior Assistant Editor based out of Hyderabad covering developments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . He has over three decades of reporting experience.