My fight is not for any post but to make Telangana poverty-free: CM KCR

Karimnagar: BRS president K. Chandrashekar Rao on Sunday expressed his pride at having served Telangana twice as its Chief Minister for 10 years "which no other Telugu CM could do".

At a public meeting in Jagtial, Rao, in a melancholic tone, said the very recognition as the achiever of a separate Telangana state was beyond any post. "With your blessings, I became Chief Minister twice and it is enough for me. My fight is not for any post but to make Telangana poverty-free," he said.

He also mentioned that he was over 70 years old.

In his speech, the Chief Minister also expressed his desire to make Telangana 100 per cent literate, like Kerala, which, for most time, was under Congress rule and under Left parties, both of whom were his political adversaries. "I want to achieve a Telangana in which farmers can sleep peacefully," he said.

On the day, he also participated in Praja Ashirwada Sabha meetings in Khanapur, Vemulawada and Dubbaka Assembly constituencies.

The Chief Minister said it was Telangana Congress leaders who damaged Telangana more, compared to the Congress leaders of Andhra Pradesh. "While the knife belonged to Andhra Pradesh, it was the Telangana Congress leader who backstabbed Telangana people. Since the Telangana Congress leaders are not strong, it took more than six decades for the formation of a separate Telangana state," he said.

"The Congress candidate of Jagtial T. Jeevan Reddy contested against me supporting the leaders of the united Andhra Pradesh," he said.

"During the reign of the Indiramma (Indira Gandhi’s term as PM), the Congress declared Sircilla, Jagtial and Vemulawada regions as sensitive areas and killed several youths. By announcing the Emergency, the Congress jailed several thousands," he said.

He alleged that the Congress did nothing for the Telangana region despite being at its helm for 50 years. "Congress leaders are telling that sanctioning of Rythu



Bandhu and giving 24 hours of electricity to the farmers is waste," he said.

Rao accused Congress of not bothering with ST welfare, saying the BRS transformed around 3,600 Thandas and Gudems into panchayats.

"Pattas of about 22,470 acres of podu land was distributed to around 7,500 members of poor tribal families in Khanapur Assembly segment, along with removing all cases which were registered against the podu land farmers," he said.

"There is a Banjara Hills in Hyderabad, but there are no banjaras in the colony. The BRS government constructed a huge Banjara Bhavan building for the tribal people in the name of Seva Lal Maharaj and also Adivasi Bhavan for the sake of Adivasi people besides it investing crores of rupees," Rao said.

Rao also said that the Rythu Bandhu scheme introduced by the BRS was the first of its kind, done solely for farmers’ welfare. He said the entire region of Sircilla was transformed into fertile land with the supply of water from the Malkapet reservoir, which was completed and filled with 1 TMC ft of water for the purpose.

"I had a special affection towards the historic Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy temple since my marriage was held at this temple. Steps would be taken for the all-round development of the temple, along with constructing special cottages for devotees. Kalikota Surramma project will also be completed very soon," he said.

Rao appealed to the electorate to think wisely before they choose any party, asking them to discuss well with their friends and relatives on which party they wanted to hand over power in the Telangana state to.

"If people give power to the BRS, the government will sanction Rs 16,000 by continuing the Rythu Bandhu scheme along with supplying 24 hours of current and also will sanction Rs 5,000 pension for aged and beedi workers. The development of the Telangana state is possible only with the BRS," he said.