Attacking and ripping apart one of the most significant campaign slogans of the Congress, that of bringing back ‘Indiramma Rajyam’, BRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Sunday pointed out that contrary to what the Congress claimed, the reign of Indira Gandhi was fraught with droughts, hunger deaths, communal riots, naxalism and encounters in Telangana.
The return of Indiramma Rajyam would only pose a threat to Telangana‘s survival, he said, asserting that the forthcoming Assembly election was a matter of life and death for the people of Telangana.
“People were forced to either migrate or queue up in front of the ganji kendrams (porridge centres) to survive. Indiramma Rajyam marked the worst period in the history of Telangana. Until NT Rama Rao started the Rs.2 per kilo of rice scheme for the poor, people experienced hardships,” Chandrashekhar Rao said, cautioning that any hasty decision to vote for the Congress would spell doom for Telangana once again and it would be difficult to revive the progress and prosperity of the State thereafter.
Participating in Praja Ashiravada Sabha meetings at Alampur, Kollapur, Nagarkurnool and Kalwakurthy on Sunday, the BRS president said the Congress leaders pushed Telangana into poverty for their selfish gains and political careers for nearly five decades. During the Indira Gandhi regime, Telangana was turned into a backward region where farmers were asked to cultivate only maize, stating that the region was not fit for paddy cultivation.
“If that was true, how come Telangana is now producing three crore tonnes of paddy every year and has emerged as the highest paddy producing State in the country under the BRS rule?” he asked, recalling that people were left to fend for themselves with many opting to migrate to other States en masse for livelihood. He dared the Congress leaders to mention at least one benefit that Telangana got under the so called Indiramma Rajyam.
Chandrashekhar Rao also lashed out at the Congress leadership for its utter failure to supplying even drinking water to people of Palamuru region, though it was located between the Krishna and Tungabhadra Rivers. The Telangana Congress leaders had celebrated when water was illegally diverted to Rayalaseema from the Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme, even as the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district earned the distinction of being the district of pending projects.
“No one spoke about pending projects – Nettempadu, Kalwakurthy and Bhima. Did the Congress Government ever think of giving drinking water to the people? These projects were kept pending for three decades under the Congress regime, while the BRS completed them within three years,” he said.
Besides providing drinking water connections to every household in the region, the BRS government provided irrigation water as well.
The Chief Minister assured the completion of the Mallammakunta reservoir, Chinnonipalli reservoir and also Nettempadu Package 99/100, after the BRS returned to power for third term. He assertedthat by completing the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS), the BRS would ensure that the Palamuru region would never face a drought.
Chandrashekhar Rao also came down heavily on Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, A Revanth Reddy, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and N Uttam Kumar Reddy for trying to scrap Rythu Bandhu and free power supply terming them unnecessary. They were conspiring to bring back the ‘middlemen’ regime in Telangana by proposing to abolish the Dharani land registration system which gave all rights on land to farmers.
He cautioned farmers that the Congress was trying to create unnecessary disputes between the landowners and tenant farmers over land ownership by promising to extend financial assistance to the latter. He stated that the BJP was no less anti-farmer compared to the Congress as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was insisting that States fix electricity metres to agricultural pump sets and collect exorbitant bills from farmers, making cultivation a difficult task again.
The Chief Minister promised to fight on behalf of Valmiki-Boya community with the Centre for their inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes. He cautioned that the development that took place in the last 10 years would go in vain, if the Congress was elected to power.
