Warangal: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday assured the farm sector of 24 hours of free power, if the party is voted to power in the November 30 elections.
This assurance assumes significance in the backdrop of the BRS making the free power as a major poll issue to target the Congress claiming that farmers would not get even three hours of power supply if the Congress is voted back.
Addressing public meetings at Pinapaka, Narsampet and in Warangal on Friday, Rahul Gandhi said except in the house of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, no one is getting 24 hours of power in Telangana. "But," Rahul Gandhi said, "the Congress will supply 24 hours of free power to the farmers in Telangana state."
Telangana is going to witness a 'toofan' (storm) of support for the Congress," he said adding that the first aim was to "make a people's government in Telangana" and after that "dislodge" the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
Stating that the Congress victory will usher in a golden era of "Prajala Telangana" (People's Telangana), Rahul Gandhi said Pragathi Bhavan, the official residence-cum-camp office of Telangana CM, will be renamed "Praja Paalana Bhavan", whose doors will be open to all 24x7.
In a tweet, Rahul Gandhi said, if the Congress is voted to power, "the CM and all ministers will hold regular Praja Darbaars to listen to and resolve people's grievances within 72 hours. Join us in building an accountable, transparent and people-first Prajala Telangana."
Apart from supplying free power to the farm sector for 24 hours, Rahul Gandhi said the Congress will supply 200 units of free power to every household under the Gruha Jyothi scheme.
"KCR understood that the Congress tsunami will come in the Assembly elections, and not only KCR, but all the BRS party candidates are going to be washed away in that tsunami," he said.
Answering Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar
Rao’s question on what the Congress did in its 70 years of its ruling, Rahul Gandhi said, "the school and college in which KCR studied was established by the Congress. Hundred crores of revenue which CM KCR was looting that was generated from Hyderabad city was constructed by the Congress. The roads and other basic facilities which he is enjoying are provided by the Congress only."
"I personally went and examined the Kaleshwaram project. More than one lakh crores of rupees corruption took place in the construction of Kaleshwaram project," He said.
"Thousands of crores of rupees of public money, which was looted by the KCR and his family members from the past 10 years will be taken back, and will be deposited in the bank accounts of the poor people present across the state," Rahul Gandhi said.
"Not only in Telangana, but I was asking the Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Rajasthan that all the public money looted in the name of corruption must be distributed to the poor people in the respective states," he pointed out.
Speaking about Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, Rahul Gandhi said, "Wherever the Congress is in the race in the elections, the AIMIM contests against the Congress with the support of the BJP. All three parties — the BRS, BJP and the MIM — are working together against the Congress. The election battle is between the Congress and the BRS only, but not with other parties."
The Congress is going to establish the People’s government in the Telangana state after the assembly elections and in the first cabinet meeting it is going to pass the resolution regarding the implementation of all the Six Guarantees that were given to the people, he promised.
While taking out a padayatra in Warangal, Rahul Gandhi stopped at a tea stall and interacted with its owner. He enquired about problems that people of the area are facing and assured to resolve them.