Former Minister and senior BRS MLA T Harish Rao on Wednesday advised Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to watch out for his position which several senior Congress leaders were ready to occupy. He predicted a sweeping victory for BRS if elections were held now, considering the 10-month rule of the Congress government.
In an informal interaction with mediapersons at Telangana Bhavan on Wednesday, the BRS leader suggested that Revanth Reddy stop comparing himself with former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and instead to focus on delivering promises to meet even a small part of the latter’s achievements. He made it clear that none could drive wedges between him and BRS working president KT Rama Rao.
“Rather than dreaming about how to handle me or KT Rama Rao, Revanth Reddy should focus on governance as well as safeguarding his chair from his seniors. Else he might hit his own wicket. He is targeting KT Rama Rao and other BRS leaders with political vendetta. Let them file any number of cases including their alleged scam in Formula Racing. We will respond appropriately,” he declared.
Harish Rao questioned the credibility of Revanth Reddy’s leadership, accusing him of breaking election promises and saddling Telangana with unprecedented debt. He ridiculed the Chief Minister’s unkept promises, from incomplete loan waivers to delays in filling Ministerial positions, portraying him as a leader who has forsaken governance for political games.
“Revanth gave 31 different excuses to avoid complete loan waivers. He will be remembered in the State’s history as a Chief Minister who cannot fulfill his promise.
The senior BRS MLA reiterated that the BRS was only against the corrupt practices of the Congress government, but not the Musi River project. He expressed his preparedness to visit the adjoining areas of Musi River along with the Chief Minister, suggesting
him to come without security. He even offered to bring BRS working president KT Rama Rao for the visit. “We are ready to walk with you along the Musi River. You just fix the date and time,” he said.
Harish Rao also issued a veiled warning about Congress’s internal turmoil, noting that several Ministers have reportedly lobbied against Revanth Reddy. “Watch out for the bomb under your chair. Your Ministers are trying to get you out,” he cautioned, stating that Revanth Reddy failed to fill key posts, such as Deputy Speaker and Chief Whip, leaving his administration in a fragile State.
Citing the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, the former Minister demanded full disclosure of Congress’s non-budgetary loans. He raised concern over the increasing debt under the Congress rule. “In nine and a half years of BRS governance, Telangana’s debt was Rs 4.26 lakh crore. In ten months, this government has piled up Rs 85,000 crore in debt. What progress do we see with this?” he asked.
Harish Rao criticised the Congress administration’s handling of development projects, stating that while the BRS regime proposed to supply water from Kondapochamma Sagar to Musi River with around Rs 1,00 crore, the Revanth Reddy government escalated it to Rs 7,000 crore and proposing to supply water from Mallanna Sagar. He suggested that the State government handover about 400 acre available land at Gachibowli to Musi River affected families. He feared that the Congress is conspiring to loot Rs 10,000 crore by selling this public property.
Harish Rao slammed the Chief Minister shifting stance on implementing “Ek Police” policy that he campaigned on during elections, but is now neglecting. He welcomed installation of a massive statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Bapu Ghat, but reminded about the State government’s negligence towards Dr BR Ambedkar’s statue which remains closed for visitors.