CM KCR calls out Congress, BJP injustice to Telangana

Bharat Rashtra Samithi president and Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Monday charged the Congress and the BJP with grave injustice to scheduled tribes in the State, apart from holding the Congress responsible for delaying the formation of Telangana by 14 years even after promising the new State.

Addressing public meetings at Devarakadra, Gadwal, Makthal and Narayanpet constituencies of the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district during a whirlwind campaign tour on Monday, the Chief Minister asked the people to vote based on the credentials of the parties in the November 30 assembly polls.

Asking the people to be aware of the track record of each political party before casting their votes, he also vowed to launch another battle against the BJP-led Centre for the inclusion of Valmiki and Boya communities in the Scheduled Tribes list. The previous Congress governments had done grave injustice to these communities by placing them among the Backward Classes in Telangana, but including them among STs in the Andhra region of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.

“The BRS government passed resolutions in the Assembly on multiple occasions and sent them to the Centre for considering Valmiki and Boya communities among the STs. But there has been no response. While the Congress discriminated against these communities, the BJP government is only continuing it. After the Assembly elections, the BRS will take up a fight with the Centre to resolve the issue,” he said.

Holding the Congress squarely responsible for the delay in the formation of the new State, he said the Congress had tried to destroy the BRS (then TRS).

“They tried to destroy our party. They tried to buy our MLAs. Despite their promise to ensure formation of Telangana, they gave the State only after 14 years of our struggle, and that too only after I undertook a fast unto death demanding Statehood,” he said, pointing out that several people had lost their lives during the Statehood agitation, as the Congress delayed its approval for the new State.

Earlier, emphasizing the importance of



understanding the history and policies of political parties and their commitment to the welfare of the people, especially farmers and the poor, as essential elements of a functioning democracy, the Chief Minister said the Congress had destroyed the Palamuru region and cheated its people for decades with false promises of irrigation projects.

Despite the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers flowing in the region, the people were deprived of water from these rivers for over five decades. He questioned the silence of the Congress leaders of Telangana during distribution of Krishna River waters in 1974 when a larger share was given to Coastal Andhra, with the move eventually turning the Palamuru region into a drought-prone area.

“If the Congress destroyed the region, the BJP ruined it further due to its discrimination. However, the BRS has been successful in ending the woes of the people to a large extent and ensuring reverse migration through completion of pending irrigation projects,” Chandrashekhar Rao said, adding that the people were well aware of Congress leaders who gave Harathi and cooperated with Andhra leaders to divert Palamuru’s share of water to Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.

The BRS government had made significant efforts to complete pending projects in Palamuru including Nettempadu, Bhima, Kalwakurthy and the Koil Sagar Lift Irrigation Schemes. The Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, which was delayed due to court cases filed by Congress leaders, was inaugurated recently and was expected to provide water to the entire region soon.

Chandrashekhar Rao also trained his guns at the BJP, stating that though the Centre established 157 government medical colleges across the country, not even a single medical college was allotted to Telangana. Despite repeated requests from the State government and mandatory guidelines, the Centre was yet to sanction Navodaya schools to the newly created districts in erstwhile Mahabubnagar. Leaders of both the Congress and the BJP had not said ‘Jai Telangana’ till date and the people must ask themselves as to why they should vote for such parties, he added.