The two visited the Ramappa temple and placed a document listing the six guarantees promised by the Congress at the feet of the deity.
Scene at the Mulugu rally of Congress leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi. (X)
Top Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi on Wednesday, 18 October, tore into the ruling BRS for hood-winking the people of Telangana and dancing to the tune of the BJP.
Kick-starting the party’s campaign for the 30 November Assembly elections, Rahul Gandhi, in his short but effective address, said that in Telangana the fight will be between doralu (feudal lords) and prajalu (people).
“The BJP has faded away in Telangana, but it is with the BRS, as is the case with AIMIM,” he said, addressing a huge rally in Mulugu, the tribal heartland of Telangana, where their arrival appeared to have energised the party cadre.
The Congress senior leader said the BJP, which has a communal agenda, has a friend in BRS supremo and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao who always helped the saffron party whenever it was in need of support in Parliament.
“You all know how BRS had supported farmers’ and GST Bills and other similar ones, but the Congress has an ideology that cared for the people in distress and its secular credentials are beyond reproach,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi said that the incontrovertible evidence that Narendra Modi was Chief Minister KCR’s protector and benefactor was that, although KCR was “corrupt”, so far there had been no raid by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), or CBI or the Income-Tax Department on him, while they target all other Opposition party leaders.
The Congress leader said the BJP was vindictive against him.
“It had me disqualified as an MP, evicted me from my home, and slapped about 24 cases against me. But in Telangana nothing happens to KCR, which is clear proof that both KCR and Modi are on the same page,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi said that the people should support the Congress in the ensuing Assembly elections as it always did what it promised, unlike KCR, who had conveniently forgotten his promise of three-acre land to Dalit families, waiver of ₹1 lakh farm loans, a corruption-free government, and double bedroom houses.
He said that, on the other hand, KCR had taken ₹1 lakh crore from the pockets of people in the name of execution of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project and usurped their lands by bringing in the Dharani portal.
He said that the Congress had kept its promises even when they went against its interests.
The Congress promised Telangana in 2004 and delivered it — even though it hurt its political interests — because it wanted the welfare of the people of Telangana. “This is the truth, and it is right in front you,” he said and referred to how it had kept the promises it made in the states where it was in power.
“We have the best health policy in Rajasthan, where the people utilise medical services up to a ceiling of ₹25 lakh; in Chhattisgarh, we pay remunerative price to paddy farmers; and in Karnataka, we have implemented the five guarantees on the very first day of coming to power. Similarly, we will implement all the six guarantees we have promised to the people of Telangana,” he said.
Referring to the coming general elections next year, Rahul Gandhi said after coming to power at the Centre, the Sammaka Sarakka tribal fair would be declared as a national festival on the scale that Kumbh Mela is being organised now.
Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi in Mulugu. (X)
Priyanka Gandhi said that after the creation of the Telangana state, the dreams of the people that they would be able to lead a better life remained unfulfilled. The youth had hoped that they would get jobs, the farmers had thought that their lives would undergo transformation.
“What have you got in return? Suffering and privation. Sonia Gandhi delivered Telangana with an intent to help the people keeping in mind the people’s long-term interests,” she said.
“Whether it was Sonia Gandhi or Indira Gandhi, they always kept the interests of the people uppermost in their minds. That is why they had given a number of public sector undertakings to you,” she said, adding that unless the Congress comes to power in Telangana, the dreams of the people for a better life would not come true.
Hitting out at the BRS government, she said that as many as 18 departments are under the control of the KCR family.
The Telangana government’s remote is in the hands of the prime minister, said, adding that the land and sand mafia are ruling the state.
In Rangareddy district, the BRS leaders had encroached lands worth thousands of crores. There was no social justice in Telangana. There are just three Backward Classes (BC) ministers, she pointed out.
“The Congress demands that census of BCs should be taken up across the country. Unless we know which caste has how much population, how can we ensure justice to them?” she asked.
After their arrival in the district, the two leaders visited the famous arrival Ramappa temple.
They placed a document listing the six guarantees promised to the Telangana people on 17 September at a public meeting in Thukkuguda in Hyderabad at the feet of the presiding deity Lord Shiva and offered prayers.
Later, in a road show, they reached the venue of the public meeting in Mulugu.
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