KTR claimed that Revanth Reddy had confided in his confidants that his next political step would be to move towards the BJP.
Published Aug 17, 2024 | 10:01 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 17, 2024 | 10:01 PM
BRS working president KT Rama Rao. (X)
In a tit-for-tat move, BRS working president KT Rama Rao said Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy would soon join the BJP along with his team.
KTR — as Rama Rao is popularly known — commented a day after the Chief Minister told reporters in Delhi that the BRS would merge with the BJP to secure the release of MLC K Kavitha and for other benefits.
“Revanth Reddy is certain to join the BJP along with his team. He seemed to have told the prime minister that he was born in the BJP and will end his political journey in the BJP.” former minister KTR told the media in Hyderabad on Saturday, 17 August.
KTR claimed that Revanth Reddy had confided in his confidants that his next political step would be to move towards the BJP.
In Delhi, Revanth Reddy had “predicted” that K Chandrashekar Rao would be made the governor of a state, while KTR would become a Union minister after the BRS merged with the BJP, once the regional party “surrendered” its four Rajya Sabha members to the saffron outfit.
Interestingly, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar recently ruled out the possibility of a BRS-BJP merger. Instead, he said, the BRS would likely merge with the Congress.
KTR also criticised the state government for its alleged failure to effectively implement the loan waiver scheme.
He said the SLBC (State-Level Bankers’ Committee) had stated that 47 lakh people should receive loans, and Revanth Reddy said ₹40,000 crore would be required. However, the Cabinet approved only ₹31,000 crore, and the budget allocation was ₹27,000 crore. Subsequently, the government announced a loan waiver of just ₹17,000 crore, benefiting only 22 lakh people.
KTR termed the loan waiver process a sham. “The BRS will gather detailed information on loan waivers at the village level, which will then be submitted to district collectors and subsequently to the state government. If the government fails to address the farmers’ concerns, state-wide protests will begin,” he said.
The BRS working president vowed to exert pressure on the government to ensure that every farmer received a waiver. The BRS will start collecting data from the chief minister’s constituency and proceed across all constituencies. If justice is not served, the party would initiate direct action, he warned.
KTR said the BRS call center received approximately 1.2 lakh complaints related to the loan waiver. He stated that a pro forma would be prepared to collect the necessary information, with local MLAs, former MLAs, or senior leaders overseeing the process. BRS party members would visit every household in the village to collect the data directly.
He expressed concern that the benefits of loan waiver excluded at least 40 percent of the distressed farmers. He accused Congress of engaging in attention-diversion tactics to divert attention from the loan waiver failure.
“While the chief minister claims that 100 percent of the loan waivers have been completed, the government’s establishment of special counters for those who did not receive waivers exposes the administration’s incompetence,” he said.
KTR further questioned the integrity of the current state government, alleging that under KCR’s leadership, an understanding was reached with Foxconn to create one lakh jobs. However, KTR raised doubts about whether the company backed out due to Revanth Reddy’s words and administrative failures.
He highlighted that Apple iPhone-maker Foxconn, after China, has announced plans to set up its second-largest campus in Bengaluru. He demanded the government reveal the truth about the Foxconn investments and its expansion plans in Telangana.
KTR also questioned whether the company would continue with its expansion, and urged the chief minister to clarify if Foxconn’s decision to shift to Bengaluru was due to the government’s failures.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
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