Coming down heavily on the Congress for branding the BRS as the B-team of the BJP, BRS working president and Minister KT Rama Rao said that the Congress was nothing but a ‘C’ team i.e. a Chor team involved in A to Z of scams. He took a swipe at the Gandhi-Nehru family for epitomising dynastic politics in the country and ruling the country for multiple generations.
Addressing the gathering during a thanksgiving meeting by differently-abled persons in Telangana Bhavan on Thursday, the Minister dubbed Rahul Gandhi as a “reader” rather than a leader who just reads of scripts without verifying the facts. He rubbished the allegation of Rs 1 lakh crore corruption in construction of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigating Scheme (KLIS), stating that the project was completed within the budget of Rs 80,000 crre. He challenged the Congress leaders to prove their allegations.
Rama Rao also raised questions about the character of TPCC president A Revanth Reddy, with whom Rahul Gandhi shared the dais. He went on to label Revanth Reddy as a “420” (cheater) citing his alleged involvement in the vote-for-note case.
Further, the BRS working president branded Revanth Reddy as a covert of BJP in the Congress and cautioned the Congress leaders that one day, he would join the BJP by taking away some Congress MLAs along with him. “You gave Gandhi Bhavan to Godse,” he said. He advised Rahul Gandhi to check whether or not the cash-for-vote scamster who is already selling tickets for cash, land and other benefits, would sell the grand old party too.
On the occasion, Rama Rao urged the differently abled to motivate at least 10 more persons each to vote for BRS in the ensuing elections. “In nine and half years, we spent Rs 10,300 crore on disabled pension benefitting 5.65 lakh persons,” he said. He pointed out that Telangana offers a social security pension of Rs 4,016 for the differently abled, which will be increased to Rs 6,016 once the BRS government is
re-elected.
The Minister explained the poor conditions in which the differently abled were being treated compared to Telangana. He stated that the BJP government in Gujarat was giving pensions ranging from Rs 600 to Rs 1,000 to a meagre 47,034 differently-abled persons based on their degree of disability. In Chattisgarh, the pension for differently-abled is still Rs 200, covering 1.25 lakh people. Similarly, the pension in the Congress-ruled Karnataka is Rs 1,100.
He advised the people not to get cheated by the Congress party’s promise to give Rs 4,000 pension. He listed out various initiatives of the BRS Government in Telangana for the differently-abled ranging from Rs 2.25 lakh under Kalyana Lakshmi/Shaadi Mubarak schemes, 1.25 lakhs three-wheelers, scooters, 2.75 lakh battery chairs and cycles, 3 to 4 percent reservation in jobs, 5 percent reservation in 2 bhk houses, Brailey textbooks, laptops and I-pads and 5G smartphones for hearing impaired
Rama Rao questioned the effectiveness of election rhetoric, asking whether mere dialogues can garner votes. He reiterated his party’s commitment to the welfare of the differently abled and expressed hope for continued support from the electorate in the upcoming elections. “We will do more. No other government had done more than what Chandrashekhar Rao had done for you,” he declared.
He held the successive Congress governments responsible for rendering 1.5 lakh innocent children handicapped due to flouride in Nalgonda, he demanded to know why the Congress must be given yet another chance. “We have elected them eleven times and they deprived us of drinking water, irrigation, employment and pension. Why should we give them one more chance,” he asked.
On a lighter note, Rama Rao said only under the BRS-ruled Telangana schemes covering every stage of a person’s life were implemented. “Except for Cooking and cleaning the face, rest is taken care of by us,” he added.