Congress would abolish welfare schemes if voted to power: KCR

Khammam/ Warangal: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday cautioned the people that the Congress would abolish welfare schemes such as Rythu Bandhu, Dalit Bandhu and free power to farmers, if it was voted to power.

Addressing public meetings in Khammam, Mahbubabad and Wardhannapet on Friday, Rao said, "If the Congress comes to power, then it will say Ram Ram to Rythu Bandhu and Jai Bhim to Dalit Bandhu, and there will no power supply for 24 hours in the state."

The BRS president alleged that former TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy had claimed that the Rythu Bandhu was a "waste scheme" and that the government was wasting public money by implementing this scheme, while TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy said there was no need to supply 24 hours of free power to the farming sector and only three hours was enough.

The Chief Minister asked people to compare the 10 years of BRS rule with that of 50 years of the Congress regime in terms of development and take a wise decision while casting their votes on November 30.

He lashed out at Tummala Nageswara Rao and Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, who quit the BRS and joined the Congress. Rao alleged that some of the leaders who were changing political parties frequently for their own benefit were offering money to purchase the votes.

Some other Congress leaders were insulting the people of the ST community saying that they can grab their votes easily just by giving them Rs 1,000 per vote and gudumba (booze) to drink.

 "They are even challenging that they will not allow the BRS MLAs to step into the Assembly. Earning money by lobbying and executing contracts, the Congress leaders are talking proudly. But people should think wisely which party will work for their welfare and must teach a fitting lesson to such leaders without falling prey to them," Rao said.

"Even though Tummala was defeated by Puvvada in 2014, it was the BRS which gave him an election ticket and made him a minister. After joining the Congress, Tummala is blaming the BRS. It is the Tummala who betrayed the BRS, the party did not betray him," Rao added.

Rao said no government either in the state or at



the Centre had thought about the well-being of the farming sector in the way the BRS had. "The BRS government is the only one which implemented Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bima for the welfare of the farmers. Even agricultural scientists like Dr M.S.Swaminathan and the United Nations appreciated the Telangana government for implementing the Rythu Bandhu," the Chief Minister said.

With providing all benefits along with supplying power for 24 hours and keeping check on fake seeds, the Chief Minister said that the BRS government had transformed Telangana into the second largest paddy production state in the country after Punjab.

"The Prime Minister and Chief Ministers of many other states have never thought of implementing a scheme like the Dalit Bandhu scheme, under which the poor Dalit families will get Rs 10 lakh for their economical development," he said.

Speaking at a public meeting in the Mahbubabad assembly segment, Rao said that the BRS government transformed thandas (hamlets) into panchayats so that the Lambada people could govern themselves. "We distributed pattas (title deeds) of around 20,000 acres of Podu land to the farmers along with lifting all the cases which were registered against the Podu land farmers and also enrolled them for Rythu Bima," the BRS chief said.

The CM stressed on the crucial role played by the Dharani land registration portal, and said that every year the state government had been giving `15,000 crore to farmers without any middlemen using the data from the portal.

"Congress leaders say that they will abolish Dharani portal if they are voted to power. If Dharani was abolished, middlemen will come. The BRS government has transferred the administrative powers on ownership of lands to farmers themselves with the introduction of Dharani. People should now decide whether they want to forego their powers on their lands given by the BRS government, he said.

For giving three phase electricity to the people of Gondu, Koya adivasi living in gudems and Lambada people living thanda and panchayats in the rural areas, the BRS government has taken up works investing Rs 300 crore, he said.