Armed with facts and figures from the Comptroller Auditor General of India, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Sunday laid threadbare every aspect of the BJP-led Centre’s failures and its discrimination towards Telangana and wound up saying that the BJP regime would see its end in 2024.
Speaking in the Assembly, Chandrashekhar Rao said that after the Bangladesh war, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was hailed as invincible but people had dethroned the Congress government.
“Power is temporary and people will teach a fitting lesson with their votes,” he said, pointing out that the Centre announced 157 medical colleges across the country, but not even one was sanctioned for Telangana. Same was the case with nursing colleges.
“Is this democracy or federal spirit?” he asked.
“When the BJP cannot sanction one medical college to Telangana, why should we cast one vote for the BJP?” he continued, slamming the BJP government for its lack of vision and development.
After the Modi government came to power, 20 lakh people had given up Indian citizenship. People were celebrating when their children secured Green Cards in the United States, he said, asking what such trends indicated.
Stating that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had performed well than Modi, the Chief Minister said the former never boasted about achievements and went about his job quietly. On the contrary, despite the nation faring poorly across all sectors, the BJP government was making tall claims with false achievements, he said, referring to a book ‘The Lost Decade’ written by journalist Puja Mehra.
After 2014, people believed in the BJP and made Narendra Modi the Prime Minister, but the country’s situation has turned from bad to worse since then, he said.
Stressing that he was not a Congress member, the Chief Minister said had the country performed well as it did during Manmohan Singh’s rule, Telangana’s GSDP would have been Rs.16 lakh crore against the present Rs.13 lakh crore. Due to the BJP’s failure, Telangana had lost Rs.3 lakh crore, he said, adding that despite going bankrupt in vision and performing badly, the BJP government still tried for political one-upmanship.
Referring to The Economist magazine’s story on the humbling of Gautam Adani being a test for Indian capitalism, the Chief Minister said the Prime Minister had delivered the most ‘disgusting’ speech in the Parliament.
The LIC had invested a lot in the company and ever since the scam broke out,
billions had evaporated. The entire nation was keen to know what the Centre would do on the Adani issue, he said.
“Yet, the Prime Minister did not utter a word. Despite the issue being of utmost concern for industrialists and people, there was no assurance, no mention of constituting a committee. He was just beating around the bush,” Chandrashekhar Rao said, also pointing out that whenever
MPs sought details on different issues, including deaths due to Covid, the Centre never shared details.
“They say No Data Available. That is the NDA Government. The people will give their answer at the appropriate time,” he said.
In contrast, union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman argues with a ration shop dealer for not displaying the Prime Minister’s photo at the outlet. Is this wise, he asked.
Finding fault with the Congress and BJP for ruining the country, the Chief Minister said setting aside crucial issues, parties were debating on political games and dethroning democratically elected governments.
Stressing for a debate on the BJP government’s target of becoming a five trillion dollar economy, the Chief Minister said even that had now become a joke. After all the hype, India managed to become just a 3.1 trillion economy. At least, the aim should have been higher and one should have vision and dare to dream, he said.
Sharing details of the United States economy (25 trillion dollars) China (18.3 trillion dollars), Japan (4.3 trillion dollar) and Germany (4 trillion), the Chief Minister said the per capita income of a nation reveals the real story.
Among 192 countries, India was 139th while even Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka were ahead in terms of per capita income. There should have been a debate on this issue in the Parliament but unfortunately, the BJP bulldozes members from other parties, he said.
Recalling a Telugu poem, the Chief Minister said there had to be a limit for appreciating the Prime Minister, failing which the BJP members would continue to hail him even after he became the former Prime Minister.
The Chief Minister also raised objections to restrictions to screen the BBC’s documentary on the Godhra massacre. “One should have patience and tolerance. None is permanent as we are at the mercy of people to come to power,” he said.
Citing the Telangana government’s measures in procurement of maize, he said despite there being no demand, in the better interest of farmers, stocks were procured through Market Intervention Fund.