With the Kerala, Delhi, and Punjab chief ministers by his side, K Chandrashekar Rao put the BJP and the Congress in the same bracket.
KCR unleased a tirade against the BJP-led NDA at the Centre for its lopsided economic policies and its agenda dominated by religious bigotry at the Khammam meet. In picture are K Chandrashekar Rao with Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann, Pinarayi Vijayan, D Raja, and Akhilesh Yadav. (Supplied)
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) supremo and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Wednesday, 18 January, reiterated promises on electricity, water, and agriculture to position himself as a national leader determined to bring down the BJP with the help of allies.
In essence, he unveiled the broad contours of his party’s agenda and philosophy that seek to make a qualitative change in the living standards of the people, as a large crowd egged him on.
Addressing a massive public meeting at Khammam in Telangana, the KCR announced that apart from the welfare programmes being implemented in Telangana, the BRS — when it comes to power with the help of allies — would ensure that water wars among states would come to an end.
This was the first public meeting after the TRS was rebranded as the BRS in December last year, and the sea of humanity cheered him on.
KCR also announced that he would ensure drinking water supply to each and every household in India within five years of coming to power, Dalit Badhu benefit for 25 lakh families every year, free power supply to the farm sector, reversal of the policy of privatisation of public institutions, 33 percent reservation for women in the legislature, Rythu Bandhu for farmers across the nation, and scrapping Agnipath as a recruitment pathway to defence services.
He also wanted all the parties wedded to the cause of democracy and the welfare of the people to join hands with him to end the practice of the ruling dispensation harassing democratically-elected chief ministers using its institutions.
The poisonous tree of religious bigotry should be rooted out of Indian soil, he said.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the launch of Telangana Kanti Velugu. (Supplied)
The chief ministers of Delhi, Punjab, and Kerala — Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann, and Pinarayi Vijayan — former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav along with CPI general secretary D Raja spoke at the meeting, lending it a national flavour.
The entire ground where the public meeting was held was close to the Integrated Collectorate Complex, which KCR and other dignitaries inaugurated earlier in the day.
On the occasion, the chief minister and the other three chief ministers inaugurated the second phase of kanti velugu.
The venue of the public meeting remained choc a bloc till KCR completed his address in the evening.
The chief minister was very critical of the current dispensation at the Centre for fomenting communal hatred instead of focussing on development.
He said that ever since the BJP took power at the Centre, the country seemed to have lost its direction and goal.
“We have no goal. Somewhere along the line, the party in power lost the script. We are now rudderless,” he said.
KCR felt sorry that the country was facing scarcity amidst plenty.
“We have enough natural resources, and yet we approach the World Bank with a begging bowl. Why should we fall at the feet of the US or any other developed country when we are very rich in resources? It is because the rulers have no vision, and we are suffering as a result,” he said.
Reeling off statistics, the chief minister said that though India had 41 crore acres of cultivable land out of the total available 83 crore acres, it was not being put to use.
“It is because India cannot harness the water in our rivers for agricultural purposes,” he alleged.
“India, by way of rainfall, gets 1.4 lakh thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of water every year, of which 70,000 tmcft is available for irrigation purposes, but we have not made use of it. We have land, we have water, and yet we live in squalor,” he said.
This apart, the country has excellent agro-climatic zones compared to any other country, he noted.
“In our country, we grow apples as well as mangoes, which is not possible in any other country,” said KCR, wondering: “When we have so much agricultural land and so much population, why should do we have to go for pizzas and burgers of McDonald’s?”
Expressing displeasure over the inordinate delay in the resolution of river-water disputes, the BRS chief said that in the case of Telangana, the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal — constituted 19 years ago — was yet to decide the share of waters of the Krishna between the riparian states.
“If the tribunal takes so much time, when will we get clearance for projects, get designs cleared, mobilise finances, and provide irrigation to the parched lands?” he asked.
He said that the number of irrigation projects in India was also very low, at a time when even smaller countries had projects whose capacity ran into thousands of tmcft.
A few projects were taken up in the initial years after India attained independence, but no one bothered about the need for augmenting the availability of water for irrigation purposes after that, he said.
As water became scarce, riparian states fought for a better share of waters of Ravi, Beas, Mahanadi, Narmada, Kaveri, and Godavari rivers, he said.
“Building irrigation projects is not difficult if one has the will,” he said, pointing out how projects like the Palamuru Ranga Reddy lift Irrigation schemes were coming up.
“We can replicate this development across the nation,” he said.
The massive public meeting held in Khammam attended by various CMs and national leaders sends a strong warning to the communal politics of Sangh Parivar. People’s will to fight their divisive agenda by upholding democratic values shall prevail. We shall overcome! pic.twitter.com/ZILhVJ9lrZ
— Pinarayi Vijayan (@pinarayivijayan) January 18, 2023
The Telangana chief minister said that there was much to be done on the power front as the country was now facing an acute shortage in supply.
He said if the BRS came to power, he would make the entire country shine in iridescent colours within two years.
KCR asserted that the power sector would be in the public sector, thus making it clear that he was dead against its privatisation.
The BRS chief also said that neither the BJP nor the Congress could deliver projects or welfare for the nation.
They were used to blaming each other for the current state of affairs, and there was no difference in the style of their functioning, he said.
“We have rulers who are plunderers and capitalists,” said KCR, adding that their job was to sell public-sector undertakings.
KCR said that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi sold public sector units, the BRS — after coming to power — would buy them back.
He said the BRS would surely get LIC back, and asked its employees and agents — who numbered in the lakhs — to join hands with him to fight against the BJP. The LIC has assets worth ₹42 lakh crore.
Similarly, once in power, the BRS would see that the Vizag Steel Plant remained in the public sector, even if it meant that it would have to buy it back, he said.
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